Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Increases Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 50.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,355 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,153 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,308,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Oracle by 201.7% in the fourth quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,599 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 1,069 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 34.1% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC now owns 12,968 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $2,258,000 after buying an additional 3,299 shares during the period. Peak Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at $211,000. AFT Forsyth & Company Inc. raised its stake in Oracle by 32.7% during the 4th quarter. AFT Forsyth & Company Inc. now owns 6,739 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $1,123,000 after buying an additional 1,659 shares during the period. Finally, Secure Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Oracle by 21.8% during the first quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 13,235 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $1,850,000 after acquiring an additional 2,365 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 17,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.24, for a total transaction of $2,646,700.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 58,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,785,531.60. The trade was a 23.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Jeffrey Henley sold 400,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.42, for a total transaction of $76,168,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,097,576 shares in the company, valued at $209,000,421.92. This represents a 26.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 427,366 shares of company stock valued at $80,183,723 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 42.20% of the company's stock.

Oracle Trading Up 7.8%

Shares of NYSE ORCL traded up $15.68 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $215.54. The stock had a trading volume of 53,639,099 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,727,755. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $151.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $160.44. Oracle Co. has a 1 year low of $118.86 and a 1 year high of $216.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $602.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.32.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $15.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.58 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The company's revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.63 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Oracle's payout ratio is 46.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ORCL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Westpark Capital increased their price target on Oracle from $195.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. JMP Securities upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $205.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $202.00 to $221.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Oracle from $145.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, CIBC restated a "buy" rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Monday. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Oracle has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $194.32.

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.