Williams Financial LLC Buys Shares of 18,744 Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Williams Financial LLC purchased a new position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 18,744 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,647,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter worth $1,210,181,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in Oracle by 148.8% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 12,872,300 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,616,855,000 after buying an additional 7,699,141 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Oracle by 22.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,384,162 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,938,242,000 after buying an additional 3,323,334 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 131.2% in the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,911,201 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $552,262,000 after buying an additional 2,219,450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 14,599,902 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,539,268,000 after acquiring an additional 2,191,342 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.89, for a total transaction of $2,068,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,010,030.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.30, for a total transaction of $34,042,967.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 2,626,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $379,042,045.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.89, for a total transaction of $2,068,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,010,030.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,862,500 shares of company stock worth $266,776,624 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE ORCL opened at $162.03 on Friday. Oracle Co. has a 1-year low of $99.26 and a 1-year high of $173.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $139.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $130.03. The company has a market capitalization of $446.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.67, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.01.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. Oracle had a return on equity of 171.38% and a net margin of 20.40%. The firm had revenue of $13.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on ORCL. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $105.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Oracle from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $161.13.

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.