ZEGA Investments LLC Invests $1.06 Million in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

ZEGA Investments LLC bought a new position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 5,781 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,061,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ORCL. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter worth about $753,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Oracle by 87.1% in the fourth quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,048 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $508,000 after buying an additional 1,419 shares during the last quarter. Lakeshore Financial Planning Inc. raised its position in Oracle by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Lakeshore Financial Planning Inc. now owns 2,012 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $335,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new stake in Oracle in the fourth quarter worth approximately $325,000. Finally, Lee Danner & Bass Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. now owns 44,942 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $7,489,000 after purchasing an additional 573 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada set a $145.00 target price on Oracle and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Oracle from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded Oracle from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. UBS Group restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Oracle from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $179.20.

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Oracle Stock Performance

Oracle stock traded down $1.28 on Tuesday, hitting $153.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,514,230 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,509,694. Oracle Co. has a one year low of $112.78 and a one year high of $198.31. The firm has a market cap of $429.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. 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 fifty day moving average price of $164.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $170.36.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 business had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.40 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The business's revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.41 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Oracle's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. Oracle's payout ratio is currently 46.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total transaction of $389,448,893.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. This trade represents a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company's stock.

Oracle 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.