Abel Hall LLC Invests $221,000 in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Abel Hall LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,092 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock, valued at approximately $221,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of ORCL. Contour Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in 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 valued at $231,203,000 after buying an additional 643,490 shares during the last quarter. Sandy Spring Bank lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 78,049 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $8,229,000 after purchasing an additional 1,107 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 29,301 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,089,000 after purchasing an additional 3,291 shares during the period. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 5,986 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $631,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Heritage Wealth Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 16,995 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,792,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of ORCL traded down $1.72 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $138.13. 11,330,789 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,730,886. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $121.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $116.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $379.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.25, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.71. Oracle Co. has a 12 month low of $99.26 and a 12 month high of $142.40.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.02). Oracle had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 223.01%. The business had revenue of $14.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.35 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 11th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.16%. Oracle’s payout ratio is 43.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Oracle news, Director Michael J. Boskin sold 45,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.74, for a total value of $5,298,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 87,473 shares in the company, valued at $10,299,071.02. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total transaction of $99,966,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $141,546,631.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Michael J. Boskin sold 45,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.74, for a total transaction of $5,298,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 87,473 shares in the company, valued at $10,299,071.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 880,000 shares of company stock worth $110,488,150. 42.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ORCL. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday. HSBC increased their target price on Oracle from $144.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Oracle from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Oracle from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Argus raised Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $141.50.

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.