Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Stake Raised by Bessemer Group Inc.

Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 0.4% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,723,188 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 33,605 shares during the quarter. Oracle comprises approximately 2.0% of Bessemer Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $919,753,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. grew its stake in Oracle by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 73,791 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $6,105,000 after acquiring an additional 2,221 shares in the last quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Oracle by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,467 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,693,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Oracle by 29.2% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 588,460 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $48,686,000 after purchasing an additional 132,920 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its position in Oracle by 79.6% during the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 6,854 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $567,000 after purchasing an additional 3,038 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of Oracle by 125.2% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,995 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $165,000 after buying an additional 1,109 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ORCL has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Oracle from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 25th. Edward Jones raised Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 13th. Evercore ISI raised Oracle from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $131.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Monday, October 9th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Oracle from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 7th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 12th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $124.23.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other Oracle news, Director George H. Conrades sold 2,325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.76, for a total transaction of $264,492.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,029,023.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 42.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of Oracle stock traded up $0.64 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $116.00. The stock had a trading volume of 949,189 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,850,975. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.72. Oracle Co. has a twelve month low of $78.06 and a twelve month high of $127.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $317.77 billion, a PE ratio of 34.33, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.03. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $108.95 and its 200 day moving average is $111.75.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, September 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. Oracle had a negative return on equity of 3,631.39% and a net margin of 18.40%. The firm had revenue of $12.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.48 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.81 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 4.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 12th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 11th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.38%. Oracle’s payout ratio is presently 47.62%.

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.