Alps Advisors Inc. Boosts Stake in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)

Alps Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 10.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 51,854 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after buying an additional 5,070 shares during the quarter. Alps Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Oracle were worth $7,250,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ORCL. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Vice Chairman Jeffrey Henley sold 400,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.42, for a total value of $76,168,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 1,097,576 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $209,000,421.92. The trade was a 26.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,866 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.53, for a total transaction of $428,552.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 31,764 shares in the company, valued at $4,749,670.92. This trade represents a 8.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 445,366 shares of company stock valued at $84,784,653. Insiders own 42.20% of the company's stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $235.08 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $185.56 and a 200 day moving average of $166.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $660.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.39. Oracle Corporation has a 12-month low of $118.86 and a 12-month high of $241.44.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $15.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $1.63 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Oracle Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Oracle's payout ratio is currently 46.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on ORCL. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $221.00 target price (up previously from $202.00) on shares of Oracle in a report on Friday, June 13th. Loop Capital set a $135.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Oracle from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the company from $180.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $209.33.

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.

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