LPL Financial LLC Acquires 131,167 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 8.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,612,950 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after purchasing an additional 131,167 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned about 0.06% of Oracle worth $274,847,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Oracle by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $411,748,000 after buying an additional 121,874 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its position in shares of Oracle by 15.3% during the second quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 24,800 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $3,502,000 after purchasing an additional 3,300 shares during the period. Chase Investment Counsel Corp bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,160,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Oracle by 79.6% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 286,460 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $48,813,000 after purchasing an additional 126,985 shares during the period. Finally, Buckley Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Oracle by 63.8% during the 3rd quarter. Buckley Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,370 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $1,256,000 after purchasing an additional 2,870 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ORCL. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Oracle from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "market outperform" rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $169.52.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $1,042,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,076,685. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 42.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Oracle Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of ORCL stock traded up $0.90 on Friday, hitting $193.33. The stock had a trading volume of 1,636,946 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,215,643. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The business has a 50 day moving average of $175.02 and a 200 day moving average of $148.68. Oracle Co. has a 12-month low of $99.26 and a 12-month high of $196.04. The stock has a market cap of $535.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.02.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. Oracle had a return on equity of 171.38% and a net margin of 20.40%. The firm had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. Oracle's dividend payout ratio is presently 41.24%.

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.