Mufg Securities Americas Inc. Purchases Shares of 23,725 Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Mufg Securities Americas Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 23,725 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,954,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Oracle by 89.7% during the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, TFC Financial Management Inc. grew its position in Oracle by 129.0% during the fourth quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 213 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other Oracle news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.77, for a total value of $648,850.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares in the company, valued at $7,538,339.30. The trade was a 7.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.81, for a total transaction of $291,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,630 shares in the company, valued at $5,049,400.30. The trade was a 5.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 27,366 shares of company stock worth $4,015,723. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ORCL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Oracle from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded Oracle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Oracle from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on shares of Oracle from $214.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $212.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.42.

Oracle Trading Up 3.2%

Shares of Oracle stock opened at $162.29 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $453.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. Oracle Co. has a 12-month low of $114.55 and a 12-month high of $198.31. The business’s 50 day moving average is $142.26 and its 200-day moving average is $162.76.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. Oracle’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.41 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. This is a boost from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. 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.