Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Purchases 6,732 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 29.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,256 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,732 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $4,875,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ORCL. Bridges Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Oracle by 16.4% during the second quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,670 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,201,000 after buying an additional 3,191 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Oracle by 97.7% in the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 56,034 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $7,912,000 after acquiring an additional 27,685 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Oracle by 36.0% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 147,705 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $20,856,000 after acquiring an additional 39,107 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 21.4% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,296,012 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $182,998,000 after purchasing an additional 228,440 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Whale Capital LLP bought a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,841,000. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded Oracle from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, December 20th. BNP Paribas upgraded Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $157.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Oracle currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.73.

Oracle Stock Up 0.9 %

ORCL opened at $161.05 on Friday. Oracle Co. has a 12 month low of $106.51 and a 12 month high of $198.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $175.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $161.34. The company has a market cap of $450.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.06.

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

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

Oracle 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.