Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Acquired by Sander Capital Advisors Inc.

Sander Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 7.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,308 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,333 shares during the period. Oracle makes up approximately 2.6% of Sander Capital Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Sander Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $5,717,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Oracle by 5.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $411,748,000 after acquiring an additional 121,874 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in Oracle by 15.3% during the second quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 24,800 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,502,000 after acquiring an additional 3,300 shares in the last quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp bought a new position in Oracle during the third quarter worth about $4,160,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Oracle by 79.6% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 286,460 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $48,813,000 after acquiring an additional 126,985 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its holdings in Oracle by 84.5% during the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 863,883 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $147,206,000 after acquiring an additional 395,613 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ORCL. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Oracle from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.48.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of Oracle stock traded down $3.73 on Tuesday, hitting $161.96. The stock had a trading volume of 7,705,414 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,433,853. Oracle Co. has a twelve month low of $102.13 and a twelve month high of $198.31. The business’s 50 day moving average is $178.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $160.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The stock has a market cap of $452.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.06.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The firm had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.34 EPS. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5.03 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

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.