Americana Partners LLC Takes $1.65 Million Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Americana Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 9,699 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,653,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ORCL. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 0.4% during the third quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 17,626 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,003,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. W Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 3.1% during the third quarter. W Advisors LLC now owns 2,158 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $368,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.7% during the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 3,957 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $674,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC raised its stake in Oracle by 3.9% during the third quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 1,730 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $295,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trust Point Inc. raised its stake in Oracle by 0.5% during the third quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 13,606 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,318,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of Oracle stock opened at $170.02 on Friday. Oracle Co. has a 52-week low of $99.26 and a 52-week high of $178.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $471.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a fifty day moving average of $163.43 and a 200-day moving average of $141.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. Oracle had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. The company had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.24%.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In related news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $1,042,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,889 shares in the company, valued at $7,076,685. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ORCL. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. JMP Securities lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com cut shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.52.

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.