Amundi Increases Stock Position in Oracle Corporation $ORCL

Key Points

• Amundi has increased its holdings in Oracle Corporation to $1.75 billion, with a 3.3% stake lift during the first quarter, making it the company's 21st largest position in its portfolio.
• A number of institutional investors, including Nuveen LLC and Vanguard Group, have also significantly increased their stakes in Oracle, indicating strong investor interest.
• Oracle has seen favorable analyst ratings, with multiple research firms raising their price targets, including JMP Securities, which set a target of $315, and TD Cowen, which set a target of $325.

Amundi raised its holdings in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 3.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,736,855 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after buying an additional 409,691 shares during the period. Oracle comprises about 0.6% of Amundi's holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position. Amundi owned approximately 0.46% of Oracle worth $1,749,280,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Aprio Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 13.2% in the first quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,971 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $415,000 after buying an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its position in Oracle by 22.9% in the first quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,779,416 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $248,780,000 after acquiring an additional 331,700 shares during the period. JAT Capital Mgmt LP raised its position in Oracle by 36.4% in the first quarter. JAT Capital Mgmt LP now owns 172,500 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $24,117,000 after acquiring an additional 46,067 shares during the period. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Oracle by 87.2% in the first quarter. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,478 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $486,000 after acquiring an additional 1,620 shares during the period. Finally, Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec raised its position in Oracle by 20.0% in the first quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 163,654 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $22,887,000 after acquiring an additional 27,224 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on ORCL shares. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Oracle from $220.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $240.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $221.00 price objective (up previously from $202.00) on shares of Oracle in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $227.04.

Oracle Price Performance

ORCL stock traded up $9.87 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $232.87. 15,362,371 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,682,923. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $239.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $186.62. Oracle Corporation has a 12 month low of $118.86 and a 12 month high of $260.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $654.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.66, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.46.

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

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Oracle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.08%.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In related news, EVP Maria Smith sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.99, for a total transaction of $2,329,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 40,807 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,507,622.93. This trade represents a 19.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Michael D. Sicilia sold 15,880 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.48, for a total transaction of $4,041,142.40. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 99,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,247,469.76. This represents a 13.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 444,183 shares of company stock worth $86,521,198 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company's stock.

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.