6,335 Shares in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Purchased by Golden State Equity Partners

Golden State Equity Partners bought a new position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 6,335 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock, valued at approximately $589,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,409,896,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Oracle by 112,785.9% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,832,530 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $885,451,000 after acquiring an additional 10,822,934 shares during the period. Harris Associates L P lifted its holdings in Oracle by 31.3% in the fourth quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 19,160,481 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,566,178,000 after acquiring an additional 4,570,472 shares during the period. Putnam Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Oracle by 50.0% in the first quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 10,989,627 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,021,156,000 after acquiring an additional 3,664,269 shares during the period. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC lifted its holdings in Oracle by 89.8% in the fourth quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 6,929,363 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $565,961,000 after acquiring an additional 3,277,738 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In related news, Director Jeffrey Berg sold 4,866 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.31, for a total value of $609,758.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 207,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,990,421.79. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Oracle news, insider Edward Screven sold 220,740 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.42, for a total transaction of $27,905,950.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 2,543,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $321,490,231.86. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Jeffrey Berg sold 4,866 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.31, for a total value of $609,758.46. Following the sale, the director now owns 207,409 shares in the company, valued at $25,990,421.79. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,175,443 shares of company stock valued at $510,658,596. Insiders own 43.70% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ORCL traded up $2.97 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $112.58. The company had a trading volume of 16,632,306 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,937,194. Oracle Co. has a twelve month low of $60.78 and a twelve month high of $127.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $305.57 billion, a PE ratio of 35.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $117.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $105.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 55.54.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, September 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. Oracle had a negative return on equity of 470.73% and a net margin of 17.02%. The company had revenue of $12.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.48 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.81 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 12th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 11th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ORCL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Guggenheim increased their target price on Oracle from $120.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Oracle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $120.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 13th. DA Davidson lowered their price target on Oracle from $115.00 to $104.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com began coverage on Oracle in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Oracle from $121.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $122.10.

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.