Pennington Partners & CO. LLC Takes Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Pennington Partners & CO. LLC acquired a new position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,439 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock, valued at approximately $240,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 157,411,949 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $26,231,127,000 after buying an additional 2,296,069 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,002,902 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $6,332,803,000 after purchasing an additional 156,269 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,814,302 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $5,954,961,000 after purchasing an additional 619,619 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Oracle by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,202,421 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,366,531,000 after buying an additional 1,722,037 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Oracle by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 19,620,534 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,269,566,000 after buying an additional 2,176,892 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE:ORCL opened at $145.50 on Friday. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $114.26 and a fifty-two week 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. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $143.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $164.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $406.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.57, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.22.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings results 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). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The firm had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.41 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Westpark Capital assumed coverage on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $195.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Oracle from $195.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their target price on Oracle from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.42.

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.