Essential Planning LLC. Buys Shares of 8,840 Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Essential Planning LLC. bought a new stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 8,840 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,569,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 2.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $12,003,241,000 after purchasing an additional 1,847,561 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 2.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,194,683 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $5,977,015,000 after purchasing an additional 885,041 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 11.6% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,370,640,000 after buying an additional 1,917,416 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 17,995,664 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,998,798,000 after buying an additional 97,635 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 0.4% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,608,951 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,489,345,000 after buying an additional 54,868 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the firm’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 owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. This trade represents a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $151.17 on Thursday. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $166.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $169.49. Oracle Co. has a 1-year low of $112.78 and a 1-year high of $198.31. The company has a market cap of $422.81 billion, a PE ratio of 36.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.02). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The company had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.41 earnings per share. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. This is an increase from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Oracle from $194.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada set a $145.00 target price on shares of Oracle and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.85.

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.