Metis Global Partners LLC Purchases 11,986 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Metis Global Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 15.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 89,412 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,986 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $9,427,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Channing Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Oracle by 54.9% during the fourth quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 77,800 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $8,202,000 after buying an additional 27,580 shares during the period. SYM FINANCIAL Corp purchased a new stake in Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at about $330,000. NavPoint Financial Inc. bought a new position in Oracle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $237,000. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Oracle by 155.6% in the 4th quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,231,000 after purchasing an additional 7,110 shares during the period. Finally, Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC lifted its position in Oracle by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 8,516 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $898,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, Director George H. Conrades sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.13, for a total value of $2,903,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,836 shares in the company, valued at $2,071,294.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Oracle news, Director George H. Conrades sold 25,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.13, for a total value of $2,903,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 17,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,071,294.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $141,546,631.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ORCL. KeyCorp started coverage on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $150.00 target price on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, April 18th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. William Blair upgraded Oracle from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Oracle currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.76.

Oracle Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of ORCL stock traded up $0.84 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $115.80. 4,484,976 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,128,065. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.34. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $119.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $113.38. Oracle Co. has a 12-month low of $94.41 and a 12-month high of $132.77. The stock has a market cap of $318.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.55, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.03.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.04. Oracle had a return on equity of 336.11% and a net margin of 20.27%. The business had revenue of $13.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.96 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.