Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD. Purchases New Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD. bought a new stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 3,686 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock, valued at approximately $515,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. increased its stake in Oracle by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 1,423 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Warther Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,621 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $603,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Howard Bailey Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Howard Bailey Securities LLC now owns 2,274 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,061 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $177,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Finally, Cape ANN Savings Bank raised its holdings in Oracle by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Cape ANN Savings Bank now owns 5,820 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $970,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ORCL shares. UBS Group restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Westpark Capital started coverage on Oracle in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a "buy" rating and a $195.00 price target for the company. Barclays dropped their price objective on Oracle from $212.00 to $202.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Oracle from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating and set a $130.00 target price (down previously from $190.00) on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $174.42.

Oracle Trading Up 1.8%

Oracle stock opened at $174.22 on Friday. Oracle Co. has a 12 month low of $118.86 and a 12 month high of $198.31. The company has a market capitalization of $487.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.32. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $147.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $160.46. 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 quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The company had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.41 EPS. Oracle's revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.15%. This is an increase from Oracle's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Oracle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Oracle news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 11th. The stock was 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 owns 58,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,538,339.30. The trade was a 7.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,866 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.53, for a total transaction of $428,552.98. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 31,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,749,670.92. The trade was a 8.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 27,366 shares of company stock worth $4,015,723 in the last three months. Insiders own 42.20% of the company's stock.

About Oracle

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.