Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Position Boosted by Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC

Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC lifted its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 52.2% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 761 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the quarter. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $107,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Contour Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 41.5% during the 4th quarter. Contour Asset Management LLC now owns 2,192,950 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $231,203,000 after purchasing an additional 643,490 shares in the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp lifted its stake in Oracle by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 29,301 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,089,000 after acquiring an additional 3,291 shares during the last quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors grew its position in Oracle by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 16,995 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,792,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 25.0% during the 1st quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,492 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $941,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 55.7% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 22,315 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,151,000 after purchasing an additional 7,982 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Oracle Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of Oracle stock opened at $164.49 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $141.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $131.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $453.31 billion, a PE ratio of 44.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.01. Oracle Co. has a 52-week low of $99.26 and a 52-week high of $173.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. Oracle had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. The firm had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.95 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5.06 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In related news, Chairman Lawrence Joseph Ellison sold 1,125,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.69, for a total value of $161,651,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,145,732,353 shares in the company, valued at $164,630,281,802.57. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.89, for a total value of $2,068,350.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,010,030.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Lawrence Joseph Ellison sold 1,125,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.69, for a total transaction of $161,651,250.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,145,732,353 shares in the company, valued at $164,630,281,802.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,610,402 shares of company stock worth $230,556,257. 42.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ORCL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $105.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Barclays boosted their target price on Oracle from $160.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Oracle from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $163.88.

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.