Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Bought by Sowell Financial Services LLC

Sowell Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 25,778 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 224 shares during the period. Sowell Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $4,296,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of ORCL. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 8,019 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,366,000 after acquiring an additional 883 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,325,268 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $395,295,000 after acquiring an additional 53,128 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 5.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 121,874 shares during the period. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS purchased a new position in shares of Oracle during the 3rd quarter worth about $218,000. Finally, Summit Global Investments purchased a new position in shares of Oracle during the 3rd quarter worth about $436,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were 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 directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,331,027.20. The trade was a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Oracle Stock Performance

Oracle stock opened at $155.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company has a market cap of $436.01 billion, a PE ratio of 38.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. Oracle Co. has a 12 month low of $111.18 and a 12 month high of $198.31. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $167.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $169.30.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its 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 company had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.34 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 39.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ORCL has been the topic of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered shares of Oracle to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded shares of Oracle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.73.

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.