Appaloosa LP Sells 700,000 Shares of Oracle Corporation $ORCL

Key Points

• Appaloosa LP has reduced its stake in Oracle Corporation by 50%, now holding 700,000 shares valued at approximately $97.87 million, making it the fund's 14th largest position.
• Insiders at Oracle have sold a total of 444,183 shares during the last quarter, which amounted to about $86.5 million in value.
• Various analysts have updated their ratings for Oracle, with three assigning a Strong Buy rating and a price target averaging $227.04.

Appaloosa LP decreased its stake in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 50.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 700,000 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after selling 700,000 shares during the period. Oracle accounts for about 1.2% of Appaloosa LP's holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Appaloosa LP's holdings in Oracle were worth $97,867,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle in the first quarter worth about $27,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 284.9% in the first quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 204 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company's stock.

Oracle Price Performance

NYSE:ORCL traded up $9.87 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $232.87. The stock had a trading volume of 15,362,371 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,682,923. The stock has a market capitalization of $654.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.46. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $239.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $186.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. Oracle Corporation has a one year low of $118.86 and a one year high of $260.87.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 analyst estimates of $15.58 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 87.34% and a net margin of 21.68%.Oracle's revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Oracle Corporation will post 5 earnings per share 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on ORCL. 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. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Oracle from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $190.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $245.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $220.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $227.04.

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.