Busey Bank Purchases 3,441 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Busey Bank grew its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 217,003 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,441 shares during the period. Oracle accounts for approximately 1.2% of Busey Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest position. Busey Bank’s holdings in Oracle were worth $36,161,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Abel Hall LLC raised its position in shares of Oracle by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 2,253 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $376,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Oracle in the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Strategic Planning Group LLC lifted its position in Oracle by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Planning Group LLC now owns 27,237 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $4,539,000 after acquiring an additional 532 shares during the last quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Oracle by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 62,234 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $10,371,000 after acquiring an additional 2,386 shares during the period. Finally, Summa Corp. grew its position in shares of Oracle by 35.3% in the fourth quarter. Summa Corp. now owns 2,052 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $342,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of ORCL opened at $162.22 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a market cap of $453.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.66, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $173.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $163.03. Oracle Co. has a 52-week low of $106.51 and a 52-week high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.34 EPS. Analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 0.99%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on ORCL shares. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $157.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total transaction 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 $207,331,027.20. The trade was a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.