Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Acquires New Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,296,491 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock, valued at approximately $216,047,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ORCL. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 201.7% during the 4th quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,599 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 1,069 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 24.8% during the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 164,593 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $27,428,000 after buying an additional 32,718 shares during the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,800,000. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 40.8% during the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 564,030 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $93,990,000 after buying an additional 163,543 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co increased its holdings in Oracle by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 43,851 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $7,307,000 after purchasing an additional 4,259 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.24, for a total value of $2,646,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,785,531.60. This represents a 23.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.81, for a total value of $291,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 34,630 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,049,400.30. The trade was a 5.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 27,366 shares of company stock valued at $4,015,723. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ORCL. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded shares of Oracle from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Westpark Capital began coverage on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a "buy" rating and a $195.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Oracle from $194.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Oracle from $220.00 to $190.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $174.42.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE ORCL traded down $1.27 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $156.04. The company had a trading volume of 6,526,074 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,509,817. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. Oracle Co. has a 1-year low of $114.55 and a 1-year high of $198.31. The company has a market cap of $436.44 billion, a PE ratio of 38.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a 50 day moving average of $143.76 and a 200-day moving average of $161.60.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.02). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The company had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.41 EPS. The business's revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Oracle's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. Oracle's dividend payout ratio is presently 46.95%.

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.