Guidance Capital Inc. Buys 829 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Guidance Capital Inc. grew its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 15.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,143 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 829 shares during the period. Guidance Capital Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,128,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 89.7% in the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle in the 3rd quarter worth $44,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Avondale Wealth Management bought a new stake in Oracle during the third quarter valued at about $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total transaction of $64,050,487.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,565,931.52. The trade was a 23.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on ORCL shares. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, December 5th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their target price on Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.73.

Oracle Trading Down 0.4 %

ORCL stock opened at $167.98 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. Oracle Co. has a 52-week low of $106.51 and a 52-week high of $198.31. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $171.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $163.79. The firm has a market cap of $469.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.07, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.05.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $14.06 billion for 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.34 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 39.12%.

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.