Tower Bridge Advisors Has $32.59 Million Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Tower Bridge Advisors increased its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 191,276 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,634 shares during the quarter. Oracle comprises about 3.4% of Tower Bridge Advisors’ portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Tower Bridge Advisors’ holdings in Oracle were worth $32,593,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ORCL. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Oracle during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle during the second quarter worth approximately $35,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Oracle in the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Oracle in the second quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on ORCL shares. Melius upgraded shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. DA Davidson raised their target price on Oracle from $105.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $165.00 target price for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $169.52.

Oracle Stock Performance

ORCL opened at $183.74 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $509.15 billion, a PE ratio of 47.36, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.02. Oracle Co. has a 52-week low of $99.26 and a 52-week high of $191.77. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $172.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $146.83.

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. Oracle had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. The firm had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 41.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares in the company, valued at $7,076,685. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.