Plato Investment Management Ltd Raises Stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 8.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 36,600 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after buying an additional 2,726 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Oracle were worth $6,230,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 11.3% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 258,411 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $32,459,000 after acquiring an additional 26,255 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 114.9% during the first quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 155,607 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $19,546,000 after buying an additional 83,209 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC raised its position in shares of Oracle by 3.9% in the first quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 22,002 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $2,764,000 after buying an additional 834 shares during the last quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 2.3% in the first quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 12,590 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $1,581,000 after buying an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wintrust Investments LLC boosted its position in Oracle by 2.7% during the first quarter. Wintrust Investments LLC now owns 33,439 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $4,200,000 after acquiring an additional 865 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ORCL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group reiterated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Melius Research raised shares of Oracle from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. JMP Securities boosted their target price on shares of Oracle from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $105.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $168.52.

Oracle Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of Oracle stock traded down $2.55 on Thursday, reaching $187.08. 7,802,350 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,252,787. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $170.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $145.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Oracle Co. has a 1-year low of $99.26 and a 1-year high of $191.77. The company has a market cap of $518.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.49 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $13.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.23 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.95 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Oracle's payout ratio is currently 41.24%.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

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

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.