Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Purchased by Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 7.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,309,207 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after buying an additional 92,132 shares during the quarter. Oracle accounts for approximately 0.7% of Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Oracle were worth $218,166,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 121,874 shares in the last quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 201.7% during the fourth quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,599 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $266,000 after buying an additional 1,069 shares during the period. RMR Wealth Builders grew its stake in Oracle by 383.4% in the 4th quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 7,155 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $1,192,000 after acquiring an additional 5,675 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Oracle by 24.8% in the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 164,593 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $27,428,000 after acquiring an additional 32,718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter worth $1,800,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

ORCL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Oracle from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Oracle to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $179.20.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total transaction of $64,050,487.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company's stock, valued at $207,565,931.52. The trade was a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ORCL traded down $5.03 during trading on Friday, reaching $140.75. 13,138,087 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,963,386. 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 50 day moving average of $163.94 and a 200-day moving average of $170.22. Oracle Co. has a 12 month low of $112.78 and a 12 month high of $198.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $393.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last announced 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). The company had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.41 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS 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 issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This is a boost from Oracle's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Oracle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.95%.

About Oracle

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.