Advisors Asset Management Inc. Buys 16,997 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 18.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 110,940 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,997 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $18,904,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Oracle by 5.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $411,748,000 after purchasing an additional 121,874 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 15.3% during the 2nd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 24,800 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,502,000 after purchasing an additional 3,300 shares during the last quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp acquired a new position in Oracle during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,160,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Oracle by 79.6% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 286,460 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $48,813,000 after purchasing an additional 126,985 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Buckley Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Oracle by 63.8% in the third quarter. Buckley Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,370 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,256,000 after buying an additional 2,870 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 42,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,076,685. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Oracle Stock Up 1.7 %

Oracle stock opened at $188.90 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market cap of $523.45 billion, a PE ratio of 48.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.02. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $99.26 and a fifty-two week high of $191.77. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $173.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $148.08.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.23 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. Oracle’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ORCL shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Oracle from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Oracle from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Oracle from $201.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $169.52.

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.