China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. Boosts Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 36.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 32,732 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after buying an additional 8,784 shares during the quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Oracle were worth $5,454,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Manuka Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at about $679,000. Destiny Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at about $790,000. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 19,633 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $3,203,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares in the last quarter. New Millennium Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 13,479.1% in the 4th quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 5,839 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $973,000 after purchasing an additional 5,796 shares during the period. Finally, Waldron Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 27,997 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $4,665,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on ORCL. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $182.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total transaction of $389,448,893.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. The trade was a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 42.20% of the company's stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ORCL traded down $0.62 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $167.98. 5,526,760 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,175,498. The company has a market cap of $469.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $171.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $163.79. Oracle Co. has a 52-week low of $106.51 and a 52-week high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.34 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Oracle's payout ratio is 39.12%.

Oracle Company Profile

Oracle Corporation offers products and services that address enterprise information technology environments worldwide. Its Oracle cloud software as a service offering include various cloud software applications, including Oracle Fusion cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP), Oracle Fusion cloud enterprise performance management, Oracle Fusion cloud supply chain and manufacturing management, Oracle Fusion cloud human capital management, Oracle Cerner healthcare, Oracle Advertising, and NetSuite applications suite, as well as Oracle Fusion Sales, Service, and Marketing.