Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Bought by Salem Investment Counselors Inc.

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,199 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $5,699,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle during the second quarter worth approximately $40,000. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in Oracle by 412.8% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 257,573 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $36,369,000 after buying an additional 207,340 shares during the last quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC grew its position in Oracle by 138.4% in the 2nd quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 13,088 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,848,000 after buying an additional 7,597 shares during the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC grew its position in Oracle by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 19,346 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,732,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Williams Financial LLC purchased a new position in Oracle in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,647,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ORCL has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Mizuho upped their price target on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Oracle from $201.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Oracle presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.48.

Oracle Price Performance

ORCL stock traded down $1.07 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $153.43. 4,206,283 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,292,929. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $177.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $161.04. Oracle Co. has a one year low of $105.42 and a one year high of $198.31. The company has a market cap of $429.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The company had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.34 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

Oracle Company 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.