Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 121,874 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 5.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 121,874 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.09% of Oracle worth $411,748,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Oracle during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Oracle during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Oracle during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. acquired a new position in Oracle during the 1st quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Oracle during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $40,000. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $181.24 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $165.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $143.29. Oracle Co. has a 1-year low of $99.26 and a 1-year high of $182.10. The firm has a market cap of $502.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted 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 return on equity of 171.38% and a net margin of 20.40%. The firm had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.23 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.95 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 41.24%.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $1,042,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,076,685. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on ORCL shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Oracle from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Oracle from $140.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Oracle from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Oracle from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.52.

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.