Fisher Funds Management LTD Makes New Investment in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Fisher Funds Management LTD purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 162,864 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock, valued at approximately $27,066,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ORCL. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Oracle by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $411,748,000 after purchasing an additional 121,874 shares during the period. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 201.7% in the fourth quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,599 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $266,000 after acquiring an additional 1,069 shares during the period. RMR Wealth Builders increased its position in Oracle by 383.4% during the fourth quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 7,155 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,192,000 after acquiring an additional 5,675 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Oracle by 24.8% during the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 164,593 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $27,428,000 after acquiring an additional 32,718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,800,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Oracle Stock Down 4.6 %

Shares of ORCL stock opened at $167.92 on Friday. Oracle Co. has a 52 week low of $109.66 and a 52 week high of $198.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $168.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $167.29. The stock has a market cap of $469.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.06, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.05.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The business’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. Analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total transaction of $389,448,893.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ORCL shares. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their target price on Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.73.

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.