Busey Bank Buys 3,441 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Busey Bank raised its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 217,003 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after buying an additional 3,441 shares during the quarter. Oracle makes up approximately 1.2% of Busey Bank's holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Busey Bank's holdings in Oracle were worth $36,161,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Oracle by 16,023.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,065,083 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $351,890,000 after purchasing an additional 2,052,275 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Oracle by 11.6% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 2.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $12,003,241,000 after buying an additional 1,847,561 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 2.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,194,683 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $5,977,015,000 after buying an additional 885,041 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its stake in Oracle by 2,899.0% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 913,700 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $155,694,000 after acquiring an additional 883,233 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Oracle from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of Oracle in a research note on Friday, January 17th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $214.00 target price for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, December 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $182.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,565,931.52. This represents a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Oracle Stock Performance

ORCL traded up $8.39 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $170.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 14,946,536 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,250,818. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $172.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $163.03. The stock has a market cap of $476.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.66, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. Oracle Co. has a twelve month low of $106.51 and a twelve month high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The company had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.34 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. Oracle's payout ratio is presently 39.12%.

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.