Emerald Advisers LLC Makes New Investment in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Emerald Advisers LLC bought a new position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 2,644 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock, valued at approximately $441,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Oracle by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 157,411,949 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $26,231,127,000 after buying an additional 2,296,069 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $12,003,241,000 after purchasing an additional 1,847,561 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Oracle by 2.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,194,683 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $5,977,015,000 after purchasing an additional 885,041 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Oracle by 11.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $3,370,640,000 after purchasing an additional 1,917,416 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Oracle by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 17,995,664 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $2,998,798,000 after purchasing an additional 97,635 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ORCL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $145.00 price objective on shares of Oracle and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Oracle from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price target on Oracle from $214.00 to $175.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded Oracle from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $179.20.

Oracle Price Performance

NYSE ORCL traded down $1.92 on Thursday, hitting $145.88. The company had a trading volume of 9,144,162 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,538,774. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $408.03 billion, a PE ratio of 35.67, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. Oracle Co. has a 12-month low of $112.78 and a 12-month high of $198.31. The company's fifty day moving average price is $164.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $170.28.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.02). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The company had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.41 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Oracle's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Oracle's dividend payout ratio is currently 46.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total value of $389,448,893.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Oracle 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.