West Branch Capital LLC Raises Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

by · The Cerbat Gem

West Branch Capital LLC grew its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL – Free Report) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 37,448 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,375 shares during the quarter. Oracle comprises 2.0% of West Branch Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. West Branch Capital LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $6,240,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ORCL. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 95,803 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $13,527,000 after acquiring an additional 6,215 shares in the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its stake in Oracle by 3.4% during the second quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 41,745 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $5,894,000 after purchasing an additional 1,377 shares during the last quarter. Interval Partners LP acquired a new position in Oracle in the second quarter valued at approximately $819,000. Providence Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Oracle by 4.2% in the second quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 49,800 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $7,032,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 19.5% during the 2nd quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,890 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $973,000 after buying an additional 1,126 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on ORCL shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. BNP Paribas raised Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. DA Davidson raised their price target on Oracle from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Oracle from $201.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Oracle has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.73.

View Our Latest Report on Oracle

Oracle Price Performance

ORCL stock opened at $172.82 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $483.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.25, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.06. Oracle Co. has a 1 year low of $106.51 and a 1 year high of $198.31. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $174.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $161.70.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.34 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.12%.

Oracle Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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