Aberdeen Group plc Boosts Stake in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)

Aberdeen Group plc lifted its stake in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 44.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,443,274 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after purchasing an additional 443,669 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc owned 0.05% of Oracle worth $199,684,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ORCL. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Oracle by 284.9% in the 1st quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 204 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle in the 4th quarter worth $36,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on ORCL shares. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $215.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, July 17th. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $300.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup raised shares of Oracle from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, JMP Securities increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $240.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $222.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other news, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 3,303 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.32, for a total transaction of $770,655.96. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 31,447 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,337,214.04. This trade represents a 9.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Maria Smith sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.99, for a total transaction of $2,329,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 40,807 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,507,622.93. This trade represents a 19.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 444,183 shares of company stock valued at $86,521,198. 42.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Oracle Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $244.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The company has a market cap of $687.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.43, a PEG ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 1.43. Oracle Corporation has a 1 year low of $118.86 and a 1 year high of $260.87. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $229.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $179.81.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $15.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.58 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.68% and a return on equity of 87.34%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Oracle Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Oracle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.08%.

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.

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