Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Bought by Sigma Investment Counselors Inc.

Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. increased its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 1.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 7,138 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 116 shares during the period. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,216,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in Oracle by 148.8% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 12,872,300 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,616,855,000 after purchasing an additional 7,699,141 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 131.2% in the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,911,201 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $552,262,000 after buying an additional 2,219,450 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 97.4% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,242,647 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $532,920,000 after buying an additional 2,093,893 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Oracle by 16,023.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,065,083 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $351,890,000 after buying an additional 2,052,275 shares during the period. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd lifted its stake in Oracle by 5,853.1% in the 2nd quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 1,552,580 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $219,224,000 after acquiring an additional 1,526,500 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on ORCL. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Oracle from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $105.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on Oracle from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.52.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In related news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $1,042,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares in the company, valued at $7,076,685. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 42.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Oracle Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of ORCL opened at $173.52 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $160.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $140.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $478.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.01. Oracle Co. has a 12-month low of $99.26 and a 12-month high of $178.61.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $13.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.23 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 171.38% and a net margin of 20.40%. Oracle’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 43.13%.

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.