Kowal Investment Group LLC Purchases 895 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Kowal Investment Group LLC grew its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 26.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,267 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 895 shares during the period. Kowal Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $536,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Contour Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 41.5% in the fourth quarter. Contour Asset Management LLC now owns 2,192,950 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $231,203,000 after buying an additional 643,490 shares during the last quarter. Sandy Spring Bank boosted its position in Oracle by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 78,049 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $8,229,000 after purchasing an additional 1,107 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 29,301 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,089,000 after purchasing an additional 3,291 shares during the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI raised its position 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 during the period. Finally, Heritage Wealth Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 16,995 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,792,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ORCL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Oracle from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Oracle from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Oracle from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Oracle from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Oracle presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.83.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ORCL traded up $1.98 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $143.18. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,134,542 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,686,900. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.25, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $394.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.63, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $125.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $118.19. Oracle Co. has a 12-month low of $99.26 and a 12-month high of $145.32.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $14.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.57 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 223.01%. Oracle’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.35 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 11th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 43.13%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.30, for a total transaction of $34,042,967.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 2,626,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $379,042,045.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Oracle news, Director George H. Conrades sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.00, for a total value of $2,320,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 17,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,068,976. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.30, for a total value of $34,042,967.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 2,626,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $379,042,045.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 385,639 shares of company stock worth $53,002,729. 42.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.