Argus Investors Counsel Inc. Has $2.27 Million Stock Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Argus Investors Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 10.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,208 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,575 shares during the quarter. Oracle accounts for about 1.7% of Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $2,266,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 4.7% during the first quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 3,012 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $421,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Everhart Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Oracle by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 13,067 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,827,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the period. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Oracle by 25.0% during the 1st quarter. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,857 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $249,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the period. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 0.9% in the first quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 10,453 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,461,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 145.4% in the first quarter. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. now owns 25,951 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,628,000 after buying an additional 15,374 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ORCL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JMP Securities upped their price target on Oracle from $205.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Loop Capital set a $135.00 target price on Oracle in a report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $193.59.

Oracle Stock Up 13.2%

Oracle stock opened at $199.67 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $118.86 and a fifty-two week high of $202.49. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $151.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $160.44. The firm has a market cap of $558.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.32.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.58 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 46.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.77, for a total transaction of $648,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,538,339.30. This represents a 7.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,866 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.53, for a total value of $428,552.98. Following the transaction, the director now owns 31,764 shares in the company, valued at $4,749,670.92. This represents a 8.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 27,366 shares of company stock valued at $4,015,723 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

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.