Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC Has $23.90 Million Stock Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC decreased its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 169,275 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 1,078 shares during the quarter. Oracle makes up 1.3% of Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $23,902,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Westend Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Oracle during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle in the second quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Tidemark LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other Oracle news, insider Edward Screven sold 426,861 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total value of $60,575,844.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,626,764 shares in the company, valued at $372,764,079.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $1,042,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,076,685. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Edward Screven sold 426,861 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total value of $60,575,844.51. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 2,626,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $372,764,079.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,610,402 shares of company stock worth $230,556,257 in the last three months. Insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on ORCL. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $105.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $163.88.

Oracle Stock Performance

ORCL opened at $167.56 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company has a market capitalization of $461.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.01. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $141.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $131.44. Oracle Co. has a 1 year low of $99.26 and a 1 year high of $173.99.

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

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is 43.13%.

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.