BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Reduces Stock Holdings in Oracle Corporation $ORCL

Key Points

• BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. reduced its stake in Oracle Corporation by 36.5%, selling 292,473 shares during the first quarter.
• Research analysts have increased price targets for Oracle shares, with Barclays setting a new target of $221.00 and TD Cowen raising it to $325.00, indicating strong market confidence.
• Oracle announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, representing an annualized yield of 0.8% and a payout ratio of 46.08%.

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lowered its holdings in shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 36.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 509,284 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after selling 292,473 shares during the quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.'s holdings in Oracle were worth $71,213,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tacita Capital Inc boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Tacita Capital Inc now owns 1,245 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $174,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Oracle by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC now owns 4,333 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $606,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Tiller Private Wealth Inc. lifted its position in Oracle by 4.6% during the first quarter. Tiller Private Wealth Inc. now owns 1,599 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its position in Oracle by 14.9% during the first quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 556 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. lifted its position in Oracle by 4.8% during the first quarter. Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. now owns 1,562 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $218,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on ORCL shares. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $221.00 price objective (up previously from $202.00) on shares of Oracle in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $300.00 target price on the stock. CIBC reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Monday, June 9th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $227.04.

Oracle Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of ORCL opened at $248.48 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07. The business has a fifty day moving average of $230.54 and a 200 day moving average of $180.59. The company has a market cap of $697.94 billion, a PE ratio of 57.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 1.43. Oracle Corporation has a 52-week low of $118.86 and a 52-week high of $260.87.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $15.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.58 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.68% and a return on equity of 87.34%. The business's revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Oracle Corporation will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Oracle's dividend payout ratio is currently 46.08%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Maria Smith sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 40,807 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,507,622.93. This trade represents a 19.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Clayton M. Magouyrk sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.10, for a total value of $3,211,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 60,722 shares in the company, valued at $13,000,580.20. This trade represents a 19.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 444,183 shares of company stock valued at $86,521,198. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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