Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC Buys 85,694 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC raised its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 57.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 234,230 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after acquiring an additional 85,694 shares during the period. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC's holdings in Oracle were worth $39,032,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Oracle by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $411,748,000 after buying an additional 121,874 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Oracle by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $3,370,640,000 after purchasing an additional 1,917,416 shares during the last quarter. American Trust bought a new position in shares of Oracle in the 3rd quarter valued at about $223,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Oracle by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 4,501 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $750,000 after buying an additional 544 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 31,465 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $5,243,000 after buying an additional 1,624 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ORCL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Oracle from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. DA Davidson decreased their target price on Oracle from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Oracle from $210.00 to $180.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Fourteen 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, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $174.42.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In related news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.77, for a total transaction of $648,850.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 58,090 shares in the company, valued at $7,538,339.30. The trade was a 7.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 34,630 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,049,400.30. This represents a 5.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company's stock.

Oracle Price Performance

ORCL stock traded up $5.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $150.77. The stock had a trading volume of 11,338,726 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,444,493. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $143.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $163.74. Oracle Co. has a 52 week low of $114.55 and a 52 week high of $198.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $421.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.86, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Oracle's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. Oracle's dividend payout ratio is presently 46.95%.

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.