Blueshift Asset Management LLC Purchases Shares of 3,244 Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)

Key Points

• Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired 3,244 shares of Oracle Corporation for approximately $454,000, marking a new stake in the enterprise software company.
• Several analysts have raised their price targets for Oracle, with Evercore ISI increasing its target from $215 to $270, indicating strong expectations for the stock's performance.
• Oracle declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, representing an annualized payment of $2.00, which yields 0.8% and demonstrates the company's commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 3,244 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock, valued at approximately $454,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ORCL. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle during the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Oracle by 284.9% during the 1st quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 204 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Oracle during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new position in Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ORCL. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $215.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Stifel Nicolaus raised Oracle from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, June 30th. JMP Securities lifted their target price on Oracle from $240.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Oracle in a report on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $300.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $218.29.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In related news, EVP Maria Smith sold 10,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 40,807 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,507,622.93. This trade represents a 19.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Clayton M. Magouyrk sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 60,722 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,000,580.20. This trade represents a 19.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 431,169 shares of company stock valued at $82,908,609 in the last ninety days. 42.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Oracle Trading Down 3.7%

Shares of ORCL stock opened at $244.44 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $686.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07. Oracle Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $118.86 and a fifty-two week high of $260.87. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $213.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $174.74.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.58 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.68% and a return on equity of 87.34%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Oracle Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. 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.

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