47,600 Shares in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Acquired by Premier Fund Managers Ltd

Premier Fund Managers Ltd bought a new position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 47,600 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock, valued at approximately $7,943,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Oracle by 89.7% in the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. TFC Financial Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 129.0% during the 4th quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 213 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on ORCL. Bank of America dropped their target price on Oracle from $195.00 to $175.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their target price on shares of Oracle from $214.00 to $175.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. DA Davidson restated a "neutral" rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Oracle from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $179.20.

Oracle Trading Down 3.5 %

NYSE ORCL traded down $5.03 during trading on Friday, hitting $140.75. The stock had a trading volume of 13,138,087 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,963,386. 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 company has a market capitalization of $393.67 billion, a PE ratio of 34.41, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $163.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.22. Oracle Co. has a twelve month low of $112.78 and a twelve month high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.41 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This is a positive change from Oracle's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. 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.