Washington Trust Advisors Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 6.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,610 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 168 shares during the period. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $435,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ORCL. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 89.7% during the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. TFC Financial Management Inc. raised its stake in Oracle by 129.0% during the 4th quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 213 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total value of $389,448,893.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 42.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ORCL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. BNP Paribas raised Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised Oracle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. UBS Group lifted their target price on Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $182.73.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE ORCL opened at $161.75 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $168.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $169.10. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $110.67 and a fifty-two week high of $198.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a market cap of $452.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted 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). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The business had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. Oracle’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

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

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.