Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Has $99.99 Million Stock Holdings in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)

Key Points

• Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in Oracle Corporation by 14.1% during the first quarter, now holding shares valued at approximately $99.99 million.
• Oracle reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $1.70 for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, with revenue reaching $15.90 billion, a year-over-year increase of 11.3%.
• Oracle recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, contributing to an annual yield of 0.8% and a payout ratio of 46.08%.

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 14.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 715,181 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after acquiring an additional 88,329 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC's holdings in Oracle were worth $99,989,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 71.6% in the first quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 257,378 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $35,984,000 after acquiring an additional 107,404 shares during the period. Rockland Trust Co. raised its holdings in Oracle by 4.8% during the first quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 10,165 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $1,421,000 after buying an additional 467 shares during the last quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Oracle by 1.5% during the first quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 711,290 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $99,445,000 after buying an additional 10,426 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 34.1% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC now owns 12,968 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $2,258,000 after purchasing an additional 3,299 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Peak Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at about $211,000. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of ORCL stock opened at $244.44 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $686.59 billion, a PE ratio of 56.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 1.43. The company's fifty day moving average price is $213.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $174.96. Oracle Corporation has a 12 month low of $118.86 and a 12 month high of $260.87. 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 (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 EPS 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 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 for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.63 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Oracle Corporation will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. Oracle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Vice Chairman Jeffrey Henley sold 400,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.42, for a total value of $76,168,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 1,097,576 shares in the company, valued at $209,000,421.92. The trade was a 26.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Rona Alison Fairhead purchased 480 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $233.87 per share, for a total transaction of $112,257.60. Following the purchase, the director owned 22,110 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,170,865.70. The trade was a 2.22% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 428,303 shares of company stock valued at $82,480,056. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $195.00 price target (up previously from $145.00) on shares of Oracle in a research report on Friday, June 13th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Oracle from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Westpark Capital increased their price target on shares of Oracle from $195.00 to $246.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Nine research 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $218.29.

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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