Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Has $12.90 Million Stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. decreased its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 91,375 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 897 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $12,902,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brio Consultants LLC increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Brio Consultants LLC now owns 2,942 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $310,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 3,951 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $417,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $359,000. Aveo Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $290,000. Finally, 9258 Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 90,285 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $9,519,000 after purchasing an additional 560 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Melius Research raised shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. 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 report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $163.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Oracle news, insider Edward Screven sold 426,861 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total transaction of $60,575,844.51. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,626,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $372,764,079.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Oracle news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.89, for a total transaction of $2,068,350.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,010,030.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Edward Screven sold 426,861 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total transaction of $60,575,844.51. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 2,626,764 shares in the company, valued at $372,764,079.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,610,402 shares of company stock valued at $230,556,257 in the last three months. 42.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Oracle Trading Up 0.2 %

ORCL opened at $167.96 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $465.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.01. Oracle Co. has a 12 month low of $99.26 and a 12 month high of $173.99. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $142.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $131.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $13.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.23 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.95 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.13%.

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.