Romano Brothers AND Company Buys 217 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Romano Brothers AND Company raised its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 53,500 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the quarter. Oracle accounts for 0.9% of Romano Brothers AND Company’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Romano Brothers AND Company’s holdings in Oracle were worth $6,371,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Clear Investment Research LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its position in Oracle by 843.3% in the first quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 283 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Steward Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Oracle in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. purchased a new position in Oracle in the first quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in shares of Oracle in the first quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on ORCL shares. StockNews.com began coverage on Oracle in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Oracle from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $112.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 13th. DZ Bank raised Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $125.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 14th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Oracle from $125.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 12th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Oracle from $121.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 11th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Oracle news, Chairman Lawrence Joseph Ellison sold 1,750,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.95, for a total transaction of $211,662,500.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 1,145,732,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $138,576,328,095.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Chairman Lawrence Joseph Ellison sold 1,750,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.95, for a total transaction of $211,662,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,145,732,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $138,576,328,095.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael J. Boskin sold 90,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.83, for a total transaction of $10,694,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 87,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,394,416.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,845,000 shares of company stock valued at $222,934,550 in the last 90 days. 43.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of ORCL stock traded up $0.28 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $112.49. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,144,464 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,131,500. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $117.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $106.40. The company has a market capitalization of $308.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.36, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.00. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $60.78 and a fifty-two week high of $127.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.72.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, September 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $12.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.48 billion. Oracle had a negative return on equity of 470.73% and a net margin of 18.40%. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.81 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 11th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.62%.

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.