Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. Acquires 399,941 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 555,473.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 400,013 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 399,941 shares during the quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $66,658,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ORCL. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $411,748,000 after buying an additional 121,874 shares during the last quarter. RMR Wealth Builders lifted its holdings in Oracle by 383.4% during the 4th quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 7,155 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,192,000 after purchasing an additional 5,675 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Oracle by 24.8% during the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 164,593 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $27,428,000 after purchasing an additional 32,718 shares during the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at $1,800,000. Finally, Chase Investment Counsel Corp acquired a new stake in Oracle during the 3rd quarter valued at $4,160,000. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup lifted their target price on Oracle from $157.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt cut Oracle from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $182.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total value of $389,448,893.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Oracle Price Performance

Oracle stock opened at $172.53 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $482.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.18, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.05. Oracle Co. has a 52-week low of $106.51 and a 52-week high of $198.31. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $170.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $164.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The firm had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.34 earnings per share. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

Oracle Company 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.