Forsta AP Fonden Buys 43,000 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Forsta AP Fonden grew its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 416,500 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 43,000 shares during the period. Oracle accounts for approximately 0.5% of Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest position. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Oracle were worth $70,972,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ORCL. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in Oracle during the second quarter worth about $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle during the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle during the second quarter worth approximately $35,000. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new stake in shares of Oracle during the first quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle during the first quarter worth approximately $40,000. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

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 transaction of $1,042,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,076,685. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ORCL shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Oracle from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Oracle from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $201.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Oracle presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.52.

Oracle Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Oracle stock traded down $0.86 during trading on Friday, hitting $173.52. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,674,717 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,360,906. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $99.26 and a 52 week high of $178.61. The stock has a market cap of $478.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $160.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $140.20.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $13.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.23 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.