Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. Purchases 200 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. boosted its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 1.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,723 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the quarter. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,827,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vicus Capital purchased a new stake in Oracle during the 1st quarter valued at $534,000. Guidance Capital Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 13.6% during the 1st quarter. Guidance Capital Inc. now owns 4,817 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $577,000 after acquiring an additional 576 shares during the last quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 11.5% in the first quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 11,768 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,478,000 after acquiring an additional 1,210 shares during the period. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Oracle during the first quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Finally, Trilogy Capital Inc. bought a new stake in Oracle in the 1st quarter worth approximately $247,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ORCL. Mizuho raised their price target on Oracle from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Oracle from $160.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.52.

Oracle Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of ORCL traded down $0.86 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $173.52. The stock had a trading volume of 3,674,717 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,360,906. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $160.15 and its 200 day moving average is $140.31. The firm has a market cap of $478.20 billion, a PE ratio of 46.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Oracle Co. has a 1 year low of $99.26 and a 1 year high of $178.61.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.23 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.95 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. Oracle’s payout ratio is 43.13%.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In related news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $1,042,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,076,685. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

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.