New England Research & Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

New England Research & Management Inc. bought a new position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 5,405 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock, valued at approximately $756,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Caldwell Sutter Capital Inc. grew its holdings in Oracle by 53.1% during the 1st quarter. Caldwell Sutter Capital Inc. now owns 1,219 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $170,000 after acquiring an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 2.4% during the first quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 9,048 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $1,265,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,416,000. West Branch Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 5.7% in the first quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 39,582 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $5,534,000 after purchasing an additional 2,134 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Salem Investment Counselors Inc. raised its position in Oracle by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 34,688 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $4,850,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Vice Chairman Jeffrey Henley sold 400,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.42, for a total value of $76,168,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,097,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $209,000,421.92. The trade was a 26.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.77, for a total value of $648,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,538,339.30. This represents a 7.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 427,366 shares of company stock worth $80,183,723 in the last ninety days. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of ORCL stock traded down $4.28 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $210.94. The stock had a trading volume of 22,603,823 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,773,118. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $154.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $160.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $589.98 billion, a PE ratio of 51.57, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.32. Oracle Co. has a 12 month low of $118.86 and a 12 month high of $216.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65.

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

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Oracle's payout ratio is 46.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Westpark Capital boosted their target price on Oracle from $195.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $214.00 to $175.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $156.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. CIBC reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $215.00 price objective (up previously from $180.00) on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Oracle presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $194.32.

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.