Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. Has $19.88 Million Holdings in Oracle Corporation $ORCL

Key Points

• Crawford Investment Counsel reduced its Oracle stake by 26.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 36,930 shares and ending with 102,003 shares valued at about $19.88 million.
• Oracle continues to draw mostly bullish analyst sentiment, with several firms raising price targets and the stock carrying a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target of $268.27.
• The company reported strong quarterly results with revenue up 20.6% year over year and EPS beating estimates, though shares were down about 2.3% and concerns lingered around debt and a reported failed Microsoft cloud deal.

Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. cut its position in shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 26.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 102,003 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after selling 36,930 shares during the quarter. Crawford Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in Oracle were worth $19,881,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle during the third quarter worth $28,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Oracle by 76.9% during the third quarter. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 115 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Turning Point Benefit Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle during the third quarter worth $35,000. HFM Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Oracle by 290.9% during the fourth quarter. HFM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Finally, Basepoint Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other news, EVP Stuart Levey sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.19, for a total transaction of $2,642,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 3,429 shares of the company's stock, valued at $604,155.51. The trade was a 81.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 40.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ORCL shares. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $319.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Mizuho set a $320.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Oracle from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $268.27.

Oracle News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Oracle this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Oracle continued to highlight strong AI and cloud momentum, including new OPERA Cloud AI features for hotels and broader demand for its enterprise software and infrastructure, reinforcing the company’s long-term growth story. New AI Capabilities in Oracle OPERA Cloud Supercharge Hotel Operations
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts and commentators reiterated a bullish view, pointing to Oracle’s huge backlog, improving monetization of AI demand, and the possibility that the market is underestimating its future revenue conversion. Oracle: Discounted AI Story With Outsized Monetization Prospects - Reiterate Buy
• Positive Sentiment: Oracle said details in a report about failed Microsoft cloud leasing talks were inaccurate, limiting the chance that the headline would become a lasting negative if the market views it as overblown. Microsoft's cloud infrastructure talks with Oracle collapse, Business Insider reports
• Neutral Sentiment: Oracle also announced more customer adoption of its cloud applications, including the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health using Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications to improve operations and care. The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Optimizes Operations and Patient Care with Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications
• Negative Sentiment: Investor anxiety increased after reports that Microsoft walked away from a potential Oracle cloud infrastructure deal worth more than $3 billion over security and compliance concerns, raising questions about near-term deal execution. Microsoft walked away from a $3 billion deal to lease Oracle cloud capacity over security concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Some market commentary also focused on Oracle’s heavy debt load and the cost of its large AI and cloud investment plans, which have fueled concerns about capital spending and financial flexibility. Oracle's Massive Debt Problem

Oracle Trading Down 2.3%

NYSE:ORCL opened at $188.26 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.84, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $186.43 and a 200-day moving average of $177.61. The company has a market cap of $541.45 billion, a PE ratio of 32.29, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.65. Oracle Corporation has a one year low of $134.57 and a one year high of $345.72.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, June 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $2.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $19.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.10 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 25.37% and a return on equity of 56.43%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.70 earnings per share. Oracle has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.720-1.760 EPS and its FY 2027 guidance at 8.050-8.050 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Oracle Corporation will post 6.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Oracle's payout ratio is presently 34.31%.

About Oracle

Oracle Corporation is a multinational technology company that develops and sells database software, cloud engineered systems, enterprise software applications and related services. The company is widely known for its flagship Oracle Database and a portfolio of enterprise-grade software products that support data management, application development, analytics and middleware. Over recent years Oracle has expanded its focus to include cloud infrastructure and cloud applications, positioning itself as a provider of both platform and software-as-a-service solutions for large organizations.

Oracle's product and service offerings include Oracle Database and the Autonomous Database, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), enterprise resource planning (ERP), human capital management (HCM) and supply chain management (SCM) cloud applications (often grouped under Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications), middleware such as WebLogic, and developer technologies including Java and MySQL.

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