CENTRAL TRUST Co Buys 4,259 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 10.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 43,851 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,259 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co's holdings in Oracle were worth $7,307,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Oracle by 5.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $411,748,000 after purchasing an additional 121,874 shares in the last quarter. RMR Wealth Builders raised its position in Oracle by 383.4% in the fourth quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 7,155 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $1,192,000 after purchasing an additional 5,675 shares in the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 24.8% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,800,000. Finally, Chase Investment Counsel Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the third quarter valued at approximately $4,160,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total value of $389,448,893.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. This trade represents a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of Oracle stock traded up $3.75 on Wednesday, reaching $171.64. 5,286,696 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,853,899. The firm's 50 day moving average is $171.05 and its 200-day moving average is $164.00. The firm has a market cap of $480.08 billion, a PE ratio of 41.97, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.05. Oracle Co. has a one year low of $106.51 and a one year high of $198.31. 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 (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. Oracle's revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.34 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Oracle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Oracle in a research note on Friday, January 17th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $214.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $182.73.

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.