Balefire LLC Boosts Holdings in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)

Balefire LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 21.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,265 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,535 shares during the quarter. Balefire LLC's holdings in Oracle were worth $1,994,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. KPP Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,089 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $572,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. increased its stake in Oracle by 2.4% in the first quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 15,951 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $2,230,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Flavin Financial Services Inc. raised its position in Oracle by 2.8% during the first quarter. Flavin Financial Services Inc. now owns 16,785 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $2,347,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Oracle by 19.6% during the first quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,464 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $1,743,000 after purchasing an additional 2,044 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pure Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Oracle by 1.7% during the first quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 12,612 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $1,763,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ORCL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group set a $250.00 target price on Oracle and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. CIBC reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $145.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, JMP Securities set a $240.00 price target on shares of Oracle and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $197.67.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other Oracle news, insider Clayton M. Magouyrk sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were 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 now owns 60,722 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,000,580.20. This trade represents a 19.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 5,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.77, for a total transaction of $648,850.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 58,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,538,339.30. The trade was a 7.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 442,366 shares of company stock valued at $83,395,223. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company's stock.

Oracle Trading Up 1.2%

Oracle stock traded up $2.56 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $213.28. 10,517,186 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,915,599. 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 52-week low of $118.86 and a 52-week high of $216.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $599.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.32. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $165.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $161.98.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 firm had revenue of $15.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Oracle Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued 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 0.94%. Oracle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.08%.

About Oracle

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.