Grimes & Company Inc. Grows Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Grimes & Company Inc. grew its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 11.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,632 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,310 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,587,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Oracle by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 147,273,413 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $15,599,200,000 after buying an additional 7,883,515 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 22.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,384,162 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,938,242,000 after acquiring an additional 3,323,334 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 14,599,902 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,539,268,000 after purchasing an additional 2,191,342 shares during the last quarter. Putnam Investments LLC lifted its position in Oracle by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 12,339,385 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,300,941,000 after purchasing an additional 697,961 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Oracle by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,909,069 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,223,775,000 after purchasing an additional 204,546 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Up 0.7 %

ORCL stock opened at $141.20 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $389.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.06, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $125.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $118.08. Oracle Co. has a 12 month low of $99.26 and a 12 month high of $145.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.25.

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

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.13%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Oracle from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $175.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $144.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $145.83.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In related news, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.30, for a total value of $34,042,967.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,626,764 shares in the company, valued at $379,042,045.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.30, for a total value of $34,042,967.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 2,626,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $379,042,045.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael J. Boskin sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.74, for a total value of $5,298,300.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 87,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,299,071.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 385,639 shares of company stock worth $53,002,729 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

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.