2,874 Shares in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Acquired by Watershed Asset Management L.L.C.

Watershed Asset Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,874 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock, valued at approximately $303,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sandy Spring Bank boosted its stake in Oracle by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 78,049 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $8,229,000 after purchasing an additional 1,107 shares during the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 5,986 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $631,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Quantum Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle during the third quarter valued at approximately $229,000. Cooper Financial Group grew its holdings in Oracle by 43.4% during the fourth quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 5,038 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $531,000 after buying an additional 1,525 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at $171,000. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE:ORCL traded up $0.54 on Tuesday, reaching $115.07. 5,491,654 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,535,559. The firm has a market cap of $316.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.01. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $119.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $113.03. Oracle Co. has a 52 week low of $93.29 and a 52 week high of $132.77.

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

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $141,546,631.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 42.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ORCL shares. Argus raised shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $126.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Oracle from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Oracle from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.