Bellwether Advisors LLC Sells 52,380 Shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)

Key Points

• Bellwether Advisors LLC has reduced its holdings in Oracle Corporation by 69.2%, now owning 23,308 shares worth $3,259,000 after selling 52,380 shares in the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors have increased their stakes in Oracle, with GAMMA Investing LLC raising its holdings by 15,012.3% to own 4,755,096 shares valued at $664.81 million.
• Oracle's recent quarterly earnings surpassed expectations, reporting $1.70 earnings per share and a revenue of $15.90 billion, marking an 11.3% increase year-over-year.

Bellwether Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 69.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,308 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after selling 52,380 shares during the quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC's holdings in Oracle were worth $3,259,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in 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 worth $664,810,000 after buying an additional 4,723,631 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Oracle by 20.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 2,350,448 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 268.4% during the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 3,077,947 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $512,909,000 after acquiring an additional 2,242,520 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 19,620,534 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $3,269,566,000 after acquiring an additional 2,176,892 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,202,421 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $3,366,531,000 after acquiring an additional 1,722,037 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ORCL shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Oracle from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. JMP Securities increased their price target on shares of Oracle from $240.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Oracle from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Oracle presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $218.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Oracle news, Director Rona Alison Fairhead purchased 480 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $233.87 per share, with a total value of $112,257.60. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 22,110 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,170,865.70. This trade represents a 2.22% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 3,303 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.32, for a total value of $770,655.96. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 31,447 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,337,214.04. This trade represents a 9.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 448,669 shares of company stock valued at $85,555,309 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company's stock.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of Oracle stock opened at $245.05 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $688.31 billion, a PE ratio of 56.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 1.39. The business's 50-day moving average price is $204.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $171.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07. Oracle Corporation has a 12 month low of $118.86 and a 12 month high of $251.60.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15.90 billion for 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Oracle Corporation will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. Oracle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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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