First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Increases Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 8.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,992 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,150 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $4,427,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. Brookstone Capital Management raised its stake in Oracle by 62.1% during the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 18,188 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,970,000 after buying an additional 6,970 shares during the last quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,550 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $387,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Vicus Capital bought a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 3rd quarter worth $607,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 202,018 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $21,398,000 after purchasing an additional 17,265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 66.9% in the 3rd quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 9,429 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $999,000 after purchasing an additional 3,779 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of Oracle stock traded up $0.85 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $114.60. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,583,626 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,377,722. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $119.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $113.25. Oracle Co. has a 12-month low of $93.85 and a 12-month high of $132.77. The company has a market cap of $314.98 billion, a PE ratio of 30.01, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.01. 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 (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.04. Oracle had a return on equity of 336.11% and a net margin of 20.27%. The business had revenue of $13.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.96 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total value of $99,966,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $141,546,631.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 42.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on ORCL. HSBC lifted their target price on Oracle from $144.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Oracle from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. StockNews.com raised Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer started coverage on Oracle in a report on Thursday, April 18th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, Argus raised Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.76.

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.