Channing Capital Management LLC Buys 27,580 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Channing Capital Management LLC increased its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 54.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 77,800 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,580 shares during the quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $8,202,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 8,516 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $898,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Oracle by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 12,089 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,280,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Oracle by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 8,652 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $916,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,163 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $755,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Finally, Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.0% during the third quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 9,443 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,000,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. HSBC lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $144.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $150.00 price target on the stock. Argus raised shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. William Blair raised Oracle from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Oracle in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.76.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ORCL traded up $0.84 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $115.80. 4,484,976 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,128,065. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.34, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. Oracle Co. has a one year low of $94.41 and a one year high of $132.77. The company has a market cap of $318.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $119.91 and a 200 day moving average of $113.38.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, March 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $13.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.29 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 20.27% and a return on equity of 336.11%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.96 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 9th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total transaction of $99,966,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $141,546,631.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Oracle news, Director George H. Conrades sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.13, for a total value of $2,903,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,836 shares in the company, valued at $2,071,294.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total transaction of $99,966,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $141,546,631.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

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.