Baird Financial Group Inc. Trims Stake in Oracle Corporation $ORCL

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group Inc. has reduced its stake in Oracle Corporation by 7.0%, now holding 494,922 shares worth approximately $69.2 million after selling 37,234 shares in the first quarter.
• During the same timeframe, institutional investors have actively been buying into Oracle, with Nuveen LLC acquiring a new stake valued at $732.7 million and GAMMA Investing LLC increasing its holdings by about 15,012.3%.
• Oracle reported a quarterly earnings performance that exceeded expectations, with an EPS of $1.70 against a consensus estimate of $1.64, and it announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share.

Baird Financial Group Inc. lowered its holdings in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 7.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 494,922 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after selling 37,234 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Oracle were worth $69,195,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ORCL. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 1st quarter valued at $732,692,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 15,012.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,755,096 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $664,810,000 after buying an additional 4,723,631 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,925,413 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $22,498,982,000 after buying an additional 3,513,464 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 20.5% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 13,825,360 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $2,303,858,000 after buying an additional 2,350,448 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 79.2% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,638,951 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $648,572,000 after buying an additional 2,049,687 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ORCL shares. CIBC reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Monday, June 9th. Roth Capital reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, June 12th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Oracle from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $227.04.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other news, insider Clayton M. Magouyrk sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.10, for a total transaction of $3,211,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 60,722 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,000,580.20. This represents a 19.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Maria Smith sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.99, for a total value of $2,329,900.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 444,183 shares of company stock worth $86,521,198. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company's stock.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $225.97 on Friday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $237.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $184.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. Oracle Corporation has a 1-year low of $118.86 and a 1-year high of $260.87. The company has a market cap of $634.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 1.43.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts' expectations of $15.58 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 87.34% and a net margin of 21.68%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. Analysts forecast that Oracle Corporation will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. Oracle's dividend payout ratio is currently 46.08%.

Oracle 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.

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