Retirement Systems of Alabama Boosts Stock Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 8.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,321,230 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 106,772 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Oracle were worth $139,297,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Little House Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Little House Capital LLC now owns 25,913 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,732,000 after purchasing an additional 2,219 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Oracle by 36.7% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,529 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $372,000 after acquiring an additional 947 shares in the last quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC increased its holdings in Oracle by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 15,941 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,681,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. purchased a new stake in Oracle in the 4th quarter worth $314,000. Finally, Transcend Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Oracle by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 35,477 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,740,000 after acquiring an additional 447 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total value of $99,966,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $141,546,631.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of ORCL stock traded up $2.32 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $117.21. 8,355,111 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,810,524. The firm has a market capitalization of $322.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.01. Oracle Co. has a 12-month low of $93.29 and a 12-month high of $132.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.34, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The business’s fifty day moving average is $119.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $113.13.

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

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 9th. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ORCL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $126.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $150.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Oracle from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, William Blair raised shares of Oracle from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.76.

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.