Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC Trims Stock Position in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)

Key Points

• Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Oracle Corporation by 36.9%, decreasing its holdings to 6,397 shares valued at approximately $894,000.
• Analysts remain bullish on Oracle, with firms like Jefferies Financial Group raising their price target to $200 and offering a "buy" rating, while the consensus rating is a "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $218.29.
• Oracle's recent quarterly earnings exceeded expectations, reporting $1.70 per share, beating the consensus estimate of $1.64, and a revenue of $15.90 billion, which represents an 11.3% year-over-year increase.

Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 36.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,397 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after selling 3,738 shares during the period. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Oracle were worth $894,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. now owns 5,731 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $955,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.7% during the first quarter. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC now owns 4,333 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $606,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Tiller Private Wealth Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 4.6% during the first quarter. Tiller Private Wealth Inc. now owns 1,599 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $224,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 14.9% during the first quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 556 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 4.8% during the first quarter. Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. now owns 1,562 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $218,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ORCL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Mizuho dropped their target price on Oracle from $210.00 to $180.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Oracle from $145.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on Oracle from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $218.29.

Oracle Stock Up 3.4%

ORCL stock opened at $252.77 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07. Oracle Corporation has a 1 year low of $118.86 and a 1 year high of $260.87. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $215.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $175.60. The firm has a market cap of $709.99 billion, a PE ratio of 58.24, a PEG ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 1.43.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Oracle had a net margin of 21.68% and a return on equity of 87.34%. The business had revenue of $15.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. Oracle's quarterly revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Oracle Corporation will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 24th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.8%. Oracle's payout ratio is currently 46.08%.

Insider Activity

In other Oracle news, insider Clayton M. Magouyrk sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.10, for a total transaction of $3,211,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 60,722 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,000,580.20. The trade was a 19.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Rona Alison Fairhead bought 480 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $233.87 per share, with a total value of $112,257.60. Following the transaction, the director owned 22,110 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,170,865.70. The trade was a 2.22% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 428,303 shares of company stock worth $82,480,056. Insiders own 42.20% of the company's stock.

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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