BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Raises Stock Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 518,716 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,761 shares during the quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Oracle were worth $86,439,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ORCL. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Oracle during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. TFC Financial Management Inc. increased its stake in Oracle by 129.0% during the 4th quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 213 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on ORCL. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Oracle from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Oracle from $220.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of Oracle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.42.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other news, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,866 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.53, for a total value of $428,552.98. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 31,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,749,670.92. This represents a 8.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.24, for a total transaction of $2,646,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,785,531.60. This represents a 23.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,366 shares of company stock valued at $4,015,723 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE ORCL opened at $160.05 on Wednesday. Oracle Co. has a one year low of $114.55 and a one year high of $198.31. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $143.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $162.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $447.65 billion, a PE ratio of 39.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.27.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its 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). The firm had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.41 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. This is a positive change from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is presently 46.95%.

About Oracle

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.