Wexford Capital LP Makes New Investment in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Wexford Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,922 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock, valued at approximately $328,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Activest Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 21.9% in the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 312 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Cadence Bank lifted its holdings in Oracle by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 7,605 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,296,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC boosted its stake in Oracle by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 17,626 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,003,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. W Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Oracle by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. W Advisors LLC now owns 2,158 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $368,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Oracle by 1.7% during the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 3,957 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $674,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other Oracle news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,076,685. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 42.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on ORCL. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Oracle from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. DA Davidson raised their price target on Oracle from $105.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.52.

Oracle Price Performance

ORCL opened at $186.24 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $516.08 billion, a PE ratio of 48.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 1.03. The business’s 50-day moving average is $178.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $153.32. Oracle Co. has a 1 year low of $99.26 and a 1 year high of $196.04. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results 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 analysts’ expectations of $13.23 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 171.38% and a net margin of 20.40%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.95 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.24%.

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.