CENTRAL TRUST Co Grows Stock Holdings in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)

CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its stake in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 4.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,782 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after buying an additional 1,931 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co's holdings in Oracle were worth $6,401,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital & Planning LLC lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 15,727 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $2,621,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Oracle by 189.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 153,580 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $25,593,000 after purchasing an additional 100,494 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in Oracle in the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,084,000. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Oracle by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,418 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $903,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the period. Finally, Valmark Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in Oracle by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 5,584 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $930,000 after buying an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company's stock.

Oracle Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of ORCL stock traded up $2.45 on Wednesday, reaching $210.63. 15,046,293 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,820,388. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $155.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $160.82. Oracle Corporation has a 52 week low of $118.86 and a 52 week high of $216.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $589.13 billion, a PE ratio of 48.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.32.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $15.90 billion during 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%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Oracle Corporation will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. Oracle's dividend payout ratio is currently 46.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Oracle from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $200.00 to $235.00 in a report on Friday, June 13th. Piper Sandler reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Oracle from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $195.39.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In related news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.77, for a total value of $648,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,538,339.30. This represents a 7.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Jeffrey Henley sold 400,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.42, for a total transaction of $76,168,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,097,576 shares in the company, valued at $209,000,421.92. This trade represents a 26.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 427,366 shares of company stock valued at $80,183,723. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.