New Century Financial Group LLC Increases Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

New Century Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 9.5% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,466 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 473 shares during the period. New Century Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $687,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Westend Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle during the first quarter worth $25,000. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Oracle during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Oracle during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Tidemark LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ORCL shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. William Blair raised shares of Oracle from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on Oracle from $133.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 10th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.83.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE ORCL traded up $1.10 on Thursday, hitting $144.38. 3,560,778 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,810,036. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.25, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $126.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $118.95. The firm has a market cap of $397.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.02. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $99.26 and a fifty-two week high of $145.32.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.02). Oracle had a return on equity of 223.01% and a net margin of 19.76%. The business had revenue of $14.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.35 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 11th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 11th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.11%. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 43.13%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Michael J. Boskin sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.74, for a total transaction of $5,298,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 87,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,299,071.02. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Jeffrey Berg sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.12, for a total value of $3,220,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 210,712 shares in the company, valued at $30,157,101.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael J. Boskin sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.74, for a total transaction of $5,298,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 87,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,299,071.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 385,639 shares of company stock worth $53,002,729. Company insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

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.