Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. Raises Stock Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. raised its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 3.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 644,079 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,020 shares during the quarter. Oracle makes up about 1.6% of Comgest Global Investors S.A.S.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $109,751,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Barn Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the first quarter valued at approximately $218,000. Patten & Patten Inc. TN boosted its holdings in Oracle by 13.8% in the first quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 9,018 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,133,000 after purchasing an additional 1,096 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its holdings in Oracle by 91.7% in the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 13,771 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,730,000 after purchasing an additional 6,587 shares during the period. Jacobi Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Oracle by 8.5% in the first quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 14,204 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,784,000 after buying an additional 1,109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC raised its stake in Oracle by 11.7% in the first quarter. Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC now owns 7,469 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $938,000 after buying an additional 780 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on ORCL. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Oracle from $105.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on Oracle from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com raised Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $165.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $169.52.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other Oracle news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,076,685. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Oracle Stock Down 1.8 %

Oracle stock traded down $3.31 during trading on Friday, reaching $183.74. 8,986,276 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,256,067. The company’s 50-day moving average is $172.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $146.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. Oracle Co. has a 52-week low of $99.26 and a 52-week high of $191.77. The firm has a market cap of $509.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.35, a PEG ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 1.02.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. Oracle had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. The firm had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given 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 0.87%. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 41.24%.

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.