Southern Style Financial Inc. Makes New $329,000 Investment in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Southern Style Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,973 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock, valued at approximately $329,000. Oracle accounts for 0.3% of Southern Style Financial Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. BSW Wealth Partners lifted its stake in Oracle by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 10,550 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,758,000 after buying an additional 440 shares during the period. Falcon Wealth Planning increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Falcon Wealth Planning now owns 2,600 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $433,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC boosted its stake in Oracle by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 18,540 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,090,000 after acquiring an additional 966 shares in the last quarter. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Oracle by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,977 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the period. Finally, Stonegate Investment Group LLC increased its stake in Oracle by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 92,221 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $15,368,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on ORCL shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. DA Davidson upped their target price on Oracle from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $157.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, December 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.73.

Oracle Trading Up 3.7 %

Shares of Oracle stock opened at $164.12 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $173.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $162.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $459.04 billion, a PE ratio of 40.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 1.06. Oracle Co. has a 1 year low of $106.51 and a 1 year high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.34 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. Oracle’s payout ratio is 39.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total value of $389,448,893.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. The trade was a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 42.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.