St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC Acquires 395 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC boosted its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 2.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,915 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 395 shares during the period. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,873,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Oracle by 5.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 147,273,413 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $15,599,200,000 after purchasing an additional 7,883,515 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Oracle by 22.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,384,162 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,938,242,000 after acquiring an additional 3,323,334 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its position in Oracle by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 14,599,902 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,539,268,000 after acquiring an additional 2,191,342 shares during the period. Putnam Investments LLC boosted its stake in Oracle by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 12,339,385 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,300,941,000 after acquiring an additional 697,961 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Oracle by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,909,069 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,223,775,000 after purchasing an additional 204,546 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Oracle Stock Performance

ORCL opened at $138.25 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $123.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $117.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.25, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market cap of $381.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.26, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.01. Oracle Co. has a 1-year low of $99.26 and a 1-year high of $145.32.

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

Oracle Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ORCL. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Oracle from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, April 18th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $145.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.30, for a total value of $34,042,967.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,626,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $379,042,045.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Oracle news, Director Jeffrey Berg sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.12, for a total transaction of $3,220,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 210,712 shares in the company, valued at $30,157,101.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.30, for a total transaction of $34,042,967.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 2,626,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $379,042,045.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 348,418 shares of company stock valued at $47,784,717 in the last quarter. 42.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.