Applied Finance Capital Management LLC Has $22.94 Million Stock Holdings in Oracle Corporation $ORCL

Key Points

• Applied Finance Capital Management LLC increased its Oracle stake by 31.5% in the first quarter, buying 37,323 more shares and bringing its total holding to 155,918 shares worth about $22.94 million.
• Oracle is still drawing attention for its AI and cloud growth story, with articles highlighting a record AI backlog and stronger long-term outlook, though concerns remain about backlog concentration and spending needs.
• The company reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings and revenue, but the stock remains under pressure amid a heavy debt load, a S&P Global rating cut closer to junk, and notable insider share sales.

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 31.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 155,918 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after purchasing an additional 37,323 shares during the period. Oracle accounts for about 1.7% of Applied Finance Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC's holdings in Oracle were worth $22,937,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. HFM Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 290.9% in the 4th quarter. HFM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Basepoint Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Oracle during the third quarter worth $28,000. Osbon Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Joseph Group Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Oracle

Here are the key news stories impacting Oracle this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Oracle’s record AI backlog, stronger fiscal 2027 outlook, and expanding cloud businesses are being highlighted as reasons long-term investors may want to hold the stock despite the recent selloff. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Bernstein reiterated support for Oracle, and several articles point to Oracle’s massive cloud backlog and AI-related demand as evidence that the company still has meaningful growth potential. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Oracle announced new partnerships and innovation initiatives, including IMSA Labs and a racing-focused cloud studio, which expand its cloud ecosystem but are not yet material enough to move the stock on their own. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: S&P Global cut Oracle’s credit rating closer to junk, reinforcing worries about the company’s large debt burden and financing needs for its AI infrastructure buildout. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Recent commentary suggests Oracle may be facing concentration risk in its backlog and investor concern over the scale of spending required to support AI growth, which is keeping pressure on the shares. Article Title

Oracle Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE ORCL opened at $140.69 on Monday. The business's fifty day moving average is $183.07 and its 200-day moving average is $171.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $405.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.13, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.72. Oracle Corporation has a one year low of $134.57 and a one year high of $345.72.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $2.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.15. Oracle had a net margin of 25.37% and a return on equity of 58.62%. The business had revenue of $19.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.70 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Oracle has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.720-1.760 EPS and its FY 2027 guidance at 8.050-8.050 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Oracle Corporation will post 6.47 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. Oracle's dividend payout ratio is 34.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Vice Chairman Jeffrey Henley sold 400,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.16, for a total transaction of $63,664,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 400,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,664,000. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Stuart Levey sold 15,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.19, for a total value of $2,642,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 3,429 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $604,155.51. This trade represents a 81.39% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 40.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Citigroup reiterated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Oracle from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Oracle from $319.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $268.27.

Oracle Profile

Oracle Corporation is a multinational technology company that develops and sells database software, cloud engineered systems, enterprise software applications and related services. The company is widely known for its flagship Oracle Database and a portfolio of enterprise-grade software products that support data management, application development, analytics and middleware. Over recent years Oracle has expanded its focus to include cloud infrastructure and cloud applications, positioning itself as a provider of both platform and software-as-a-service solutions for large organizations.

Oracle's product and service offerings include Oracle Database and the Autonomous Database, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), enterprise resource planning (ERP), human capital management (HCM) and supply chain management (SCM) cloud applications (often grouped under Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications), middleware such as WebLogic, and developer technologies including Java and MySQL.

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