Charles Schwab Investment Advisory Inc. Takes Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Charles Schwab Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 2,075 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock, valued at approximately $219,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 298.4% during the 3rd quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 243 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1,268.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 342 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the period. Finally, BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. lifted its stake in Oracle by 139.4% in the fourth quarter. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. now owns 371 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total transaction of $99,966,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $141,546,631.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total value of $99,966,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $141,546,631.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director George H. Conrades sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.00, for a total transaction of $2,320,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 17,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,068,976. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 835,000 shares of company stock valued at $105,189,850 over the last three months. Insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on ORCL. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Oracle from $126.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. Argus upgraded Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, HSBC increased their target price on Oracle from $144.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.76.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of ORCL traded down $0.45 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $117.89. The stock had a trading volume of 6,434,951 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,246,625. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.34. The company has a market capitalization of $324.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s 50-day moving average is $120.19 and its 200 day moving average is $113.57. Oracle Co. has a 12-month low of $96.10 and a 12-month high of $132.77.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, March 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $13.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.29 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 336.11% and a net margin of 20.27%. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.96 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 9th. Oracle’s payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

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.