Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Trims Position in Oracle Corporation $ORCL

Key Points

• Artisan Partners cut its Oracle stake by 22.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 652,433 shares and leaving it with about 2.29 million shares valued at roughly $447.1 million.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on Oracle despite some target-price cuts, with the stock carrying a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $268.27.
• Oracle recently beat earnings expectations, reporting $2.11 EPS on $19.18 billion in revenue, while also warning of investor concerns around a large debt load and heavy AI/cloud spending plans.

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lessened its holdings in shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 22.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,294,045 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after selling 652,433 shares during the quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership owned approximately 0.08% of Oracle worth $447,132,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Oracle by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,627 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $2,708,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp raised its position in shares of Oracle by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp now owns 4,988 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $1,403,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Oracle by 76.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 115 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Clarion Wealth Managment Partners LLC increased its holdings in Oracle by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Clarion Wealth Managment Partners LLC now owns 3,563 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $1,002,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verum Partners LLC increased its holdings in Oracle by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Verum Partners LLC now owns 2,409 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $470,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Oracle from $375.00 to $300.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 9th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Oracle from $300.00 to $200.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Oracle from $235.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $284.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $268.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other news, EVP Stuart Levey sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.19, for a total transaction of $2,642,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 3,429 shares in the company, valued at $604,155.51. This trade represents a 81.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 40.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Oracle News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Oracle this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Oracle continued to highlight strong AI and cloud momentum, including new OPERA Cloud AI features for hotels and broader demand for its enterprise software and infrastructure, reinforcing the company’s long-term growth story. New AI Capabilities in Oracle OPERA Cloud Supercharge Hotel Operations
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts and commentators reiterated a bullish view, pointing to Oracle’s huge backlog, improving monetization of AI demand, and the possibility that the market is underestimating its future revenue conversion. Oracle: Discounted AI Story With Outsized Monetization Prospects - Reiterate Buy
• Positive Sentiment: Oracle said details in a report about failed Microsoft cloud leasing talks were inaccurate, limiting the chance that the headline would become a lasting negative if the market views it as overblown. Microsoft's cloud infrastructure talks with Oracle collapse, Business Insider reports
• Neutral Sentiment: Oracle also announced more customer adoption of its cloud applications, including the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health using Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications to improve operations and care. The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Optimizes Operations and Patient Care with Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications
• Negative Sentiment: Investor anxiety increased after reports that Microsoft walked away from a potential Oracle cloud infrastructure deal worth more than $3 billion over security and compliance concerns, raising questions about near-term deal execution. Microsoft walked away from a $3 billion deal to lease Oracle cloud capacity over security concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Some market commentary also focused on Oracle’s heavy debt load and the cost of its large AI and cloud investment plans, which have fueled concerns about capital spending and financial flexibility. Oracle's Massive Debt Problem

Oracle Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of Oracle stock opened at $188.26 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $186.43 and a 200-day moving average of $177.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.84, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The company has a market capitalization of $541.45 billion, a PE ratio of 32.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.65. Oracle Corporation has a 1-year low of $134.57 and a 1-year high of $345.72.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, June 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $2.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $19.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.10 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 56.43% and a net margin of 25.37%.The company's revenue was up 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.70 earnings per share. Oracle has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.720-1.760 EPS and its FY 2027 guidance at 8.050-8.050 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Oracle Corporation will post 6.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Oracle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.31%.

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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