Beech Hill Advisors Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)

Beech Hill Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 4.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,125 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,281 shares during the period. Oracle makes up 1.8% of Beech Hill Advisors Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Beech Hill Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Oracle were worth $4,491,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Rockland Trust Co. lifted its position in Oracle by 4.8% during the first quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 10,165 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $1,421,000 after buying an additional 467 shares during the period. Cornerstone Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 34.1% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC now owns 12,968 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $2,258,000 after acquiring an additional 3,299 shares in the last quarter. Peak Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Oracle in the 4th quarter worth about $211,000. Secure Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Oracle by 21.8% during the 1st quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 13,235 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $1,850,000 after acquiring an additional 2,365 shares during the period. Finally, City National Bank of Florida MSD bought a new stake in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth about $274,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.77, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 7.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.81, for a total value of $291,620.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,049,400.30. The trade was a 5.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 442,366 shares of company stock worth $83,395,223. 42.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ORCL. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $195.00 target price (up previously from $145.00) on shares of Oracle in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Oracle from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Piper Sandler reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their target price on Oracle from $214.00 to $175.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI restated a "buy" rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $197.67.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of ORCL stock traded up $2.56 on Thursday, reaching $213.28. The stock had a trading volume of 10,517,186 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,915,599. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. Oracle Corporation has a 1 year low of $118.86 and a 1 year high of $216.93. The stock has a market cap of $599.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $165.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $161.98.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The company had revenue of $15.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.58 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 87.34% and a net margin of 21.68%. Oracle's revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Oracle Corporation will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Oracle's payout ratio is 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.