LPL Financial LLC Purchases 131,167 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

LPL Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,612,950 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 131,167 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $274,847,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. German American Bancorp Inc. lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. German American Bancorp Inc. now owns 102,217 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $17,418,000 after buying an additional 6,986 shares during the last quarter. Cypress Capital Group lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cypress Capital Group now owns 12,962 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,209,000 after buying an additional 381 shares during the last quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 37.7% during the 3rd quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 13,430 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,288,000 after buying an additional 3,680 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 190,518 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $32,464,000 after buying an additional 8,927 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Payden & Rygel lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Payden & Rygel now owns 65,290 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $11,125,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE ORCL opened at $192.81 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $534.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.02. The company’s fifty day moving average is $175.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $148.68. Oracle Co. has a 52-week low of $99.26 and a 52-week high of $196.04.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.23 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is presently 41.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $1,042,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares in the company, valued at $7,076,685. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ORCL. UBS Group reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Oracle from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Oracle from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Melius upgraded Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $169.52.

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.