Arjuna Capital Reduces Position in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)

Key Points

• Arjuna Capital has reduced its stake in Oracle Corporation by 11.9%, now owning 10,336 shares worth $1,445,000 after selling 1,401 shares in the first quarter.
• Oracle's stock has a current consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with an average target price of $222.75 and several firms issuing positive ratings.
• In its latest earnings report, Oracle exceeded expectations with $1.70 EPS on $15.90 billion in revenue, showing an 11.3% year-over-year revenue growth.

Arjuna Capital lowered its stake in shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 11.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,336 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after selling 1,401 shares during the period. Arjuna Capital's holdings in Oracle were worth $1,445,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of ORCL. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. now owns 5,731 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $955,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Tiller Private Wealth Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Tiller Private Wealth Inc. now owns 1,599 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC raised its stake in Oracle by 14.9% in the first quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 556 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. now owns 1,562 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Oracle Trading Down 2.7%

Shares of Oracle stock traded down $7.05 on Thursday, reaching $249.38. The company had a trading volume of 11,938,634 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,333,115. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $220.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $177.32. Oracle Corporation has a 52-week low of $118.86 and a 52-week high of $260.87. The firm has a market cap of $700.47 billion, a PE ratio of 57.46, a PEG ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 1.43.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. Oracle had a net margin of 21.68% and a return on equity of 87.34%. The business had revenue of $15.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Oracle Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. Oracle's dividend payout ratio is presently 46.08%.

Insider Activity

In other Oracle news, EVP Maria Smith sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.99, for a total value of $2,329,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 40,807 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,507,622.93. This represents a 19.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Rona Alison Fairhead purchased 480 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $233.87 per share, with a total value of $112,257.60. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 22,110 shares in the company, valued at $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. In the last three months, insiders sold 444,183 shares of company stock valued at $86,521,198. 42.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on ORCL. CIBC restated a "buy" rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Piper Sandler upgraded Oracle from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $190.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Oracle from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $222.75.

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.