Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Has $65.78 Million Stock Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC cut its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 5.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 394,753 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 23,766 shares during the period. Oracle accounts for approximately 0.7% of Gateway Investment Advisers LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $65,782,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the second quarter valued at about $40,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 6.6% in the second quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 28,203 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,982,000 after purchasing an additional 1,745 shares during the last quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 32.2% in the second quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 26,279 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,711,000 after purchasing an additional 6,406 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 5.7% during the second quarter. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,740 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $387,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Argent Trust Co raised its position in Oracle by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 104,852 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $14,805,000 after buying an additional 7,025 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on ORCL shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. StockNews.com downgraded Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Guggenheim increased their price target on Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Oracle from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.48.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ORCL traded up $0.55 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $158.86. The company had a trading volume of 713,724 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,430,102. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. Oracle Co. has a 1 year low of $105.68 and a 1 year high of $198.31. The company has a market capitalization of $444.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.06. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $176.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $161.24.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.