Baker Avenue Asset Management LP Raises Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Baker Avenue Asset Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 170,623 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,285 shares during the quarter. Oracle makes up 0.9% of Baker Avenue Asset Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP’s holdings in Oracle were worth $29,074,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased 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 acquiring an additional 121,874 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 15.3% in the 2nd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 24,800 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,502,000 after acquiring an additional 3,300 shares during the last quarter. Buckley Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Oracle by 63.8% during the 3rd quarter. Buckley Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,370 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,256,000 after buying an additional 2,870 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Oracle by 55.7% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 22,315 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,151,000 after buying an additional 7,982 shares during the last quarter. Finally, United Asset Strategies Inc. grew its stake in Oracle by 41.7% during the 3rd quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 19,501 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,323,000 after buying an additional 5,737 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Oracle from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Oracle from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. DA Davidson raised their price target on Oracle from $105.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Bank of America raised their price target on Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $165.00 price target on the stock. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Oracle has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.52.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Oracle news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,076,685. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE ORCL opened at $189.25 on Friday. Oracle Co. has a 1-year low of $99.26 and a 1-year high of $190.16. The company has a market capitalization of $524.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.78, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $167.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $144.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 last year, the business posted $0.95 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 41.24%.

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.