Bailard Inc. Lowers Position in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)

Bailard Inc. decreased its position in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 5.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 76,882 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after selling 4,212 shares during the period. Bailard Inc.'s holdings in Oracle were worth $10,749,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ORCL. Graypoint LLC increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 6.0% in the first quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 16,708 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $2,336,000 after acquiring an additional 948 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Oracle by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 66,591 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $9,310,000 after purchasing an additional 1,158 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Oracle by 31.1% during the 1st quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 49,646 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $6,941,000 after purchasing an additional 11,765 shares in the last quarter. Napatree Capital LLC raised its holdings in Oracle by 40.4% during the 1st quarter. Napatree Capital LLC now owns 1,832 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 527 shares during the period. Finally, Allen Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in Oracle by 96.1% in the first quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 2,941 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $411,000 after buying an additional 1,441 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $145.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Mizuho dropped their price target on Oracle from $210.00 to $180.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Oracle from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $180.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $218.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Maria Smith sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.99, for a total transaction of $2,329,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 40,807 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,507,622.93. This represents a 19.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Rona Alison Fairhead purchased 480 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The stock was acquired 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 $5,170,865.70. This trade represents a 2.22% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 448,669 shares of company stock worth $85,555,309 over the last 90 days. 42.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Oracle Stock Performance

ORCL stock traded down $3.45 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $245.30. 9,671,806 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,336,031. Oracle Corporation has a 1-year low of $118.86 and a 1-year high of $251.60. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $194.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $168.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $689.01 billion, a PE ratio of 56.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 1.39.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.06. Oracle had a net margin of 21.68% and a return on equity of 87.34%. The company had revenue of $15.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.63 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Oracle Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. Oracle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.08%.

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.