Magnetar Financial LLC Purchases Shares of 2,367 Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,367 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock, valued at approximately $394,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp raised 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 885,041 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted 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 acquiring an additional 1,917,416 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 97,635 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,608,951 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $2,489,345,000 after purchasing an additional 54,868 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on ORCL. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Oracle from $210.00 to $190.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Oracle from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. BNP Paribas raised Oracle to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Oracle from $205.00 to $175.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on Oracle from $194.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $179.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,331,027.20. This trade represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 42.20% of the company's stock.

Oracle Price Performance

NYSE:ORCL traded down $6.22 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $147.71. 13,206,311 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,927,703. 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 stock has a market cap of $413.15 billion, a PE ratio of 36.12, 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 has a fifty day moving average of $164.84 and a 200 day moving average of $170.44.

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 analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.41 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Oracle's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Oracle's dividend payout ratio is currently 46.95%.

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.