Haverford Financial Services Inc. Has $15.91 Million Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Haverford Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 95,444 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 403 shares during the quarter. Oracle makes up 4.9% of Haverford Financial Services Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Haverford Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $15,905,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ORCL. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $12,003,241,000 after buying 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 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,194,683 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $5,977,015,000 after buying an additional 885,041 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,370,640,000 after buying an additional 1,917,416 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 17,995,664 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,998,798,000 after buying an additional 97,635 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,608,951 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,489,345,000 after buying an additional 54,868 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,565,931.52. This trade represents a 23.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on ORCL. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Oracle from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Oracle from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded Oracle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.20.

Oracle Price Performance

ORCL opened at $152.83 on Friday. Oracle Co. has a 12-month low of $112.78 and a 12-month high of $198.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $164.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $170.06. The company has a market capitalization of $427.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.37, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07.

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

Oracle Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.95%.

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.