Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Buys 198 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 4.8% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,359 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $548,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CenterBook Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,072,000. Bison Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 12,089 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,280,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 495.3% during the 3rd quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 30,180 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,197,000 after purchasing an additional 25,110 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the 3rd quarter valued at about $174,000. Finally, Regal Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 41.0% during the 3rd quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 12,070 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,278,000 after purchasing an additional 3,507 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Down 1.2 %

ORCL stock opened at $142.95 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $392.90 billion, a PE ratio of 38.53, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.01. Oracle Co. has a 1-year low of $99.26 and a 1-year high of $145.32. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $122.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $116.88.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $14.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.57 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 223.01%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.35 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 11th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 11th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.13%.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $141,546,631.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director George H. Conrades sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.13, for a total transaction of $2,903,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,836 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,071,294.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were 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 owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $141,546,631.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 880,000 shares of company stock worth $110,488,150 in the last ninety days. 42.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ORCL. William Blair upgraded Oracle from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Oracle from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Oracle from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Oracle from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Argus boosted their target price on Oracle from $145.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.79.

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.