First Manhattan CO. LLC. Sells 192,994 Shares of Oracle Corporation $ORCL

Key Points

• First Manhattan CO. LLC has reduced its stake in Oracle Corporation by 3.8%, now owning nearly 4.9 million shares worth approximately $686 million.
• Analysts have varying ratings on Oracle, with UBS raising its price target from $250 to $280 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" across multiple reports.
• Oracle's recent quarterly results showed an earnings per share (EPS) of $1.70, surpassing estimates, while the company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50.

First Manhattan CO. LLC. decreased its position in shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 3.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,908,228 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after selling 192,994 shares during the period. Oracle comprises 2.0% of First Manhattan CO. LLC.'s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest holding. First Manhattan CO. LLC. owned approximately 0.18% of Oracle worth $686,219,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 71.6% during the first quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 257,378 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $35,984,000 after acquiring an additional 107,404 shares during the last quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 4.3% during the first quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. now owns 51,350 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $7,179,000 after buying an additional 2,110 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the first quarter valued at about $732,692,000. Rockland Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 4.8% during the first quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 10,165 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $1,421,000 after buying an additional 467 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Calamos Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.5% during the first quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 711,290 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $99,445,000 after buying an additional 10,426 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Loop Capital set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $135.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Oracle has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $227.04.

Oracle Trading Down 6.0%

NYSE:ORCL opened at $225.97 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $634.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.46. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $237.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $185.01. Oracle Corporation has a 1 year low of $118.86 and a 1 year high of $260.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.06. Oracle had a net margin of 21.68% and a return on equity of 87.34%. The business had revenue of $15.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.63 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Oracle Corporation will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. Oracle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Oracle news, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 3,303 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.32, for a total transaction of $770,655.96. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 31,447 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,337,214.04. The trade was a 9.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $2,329,900.00. Following 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 444,183 shares of company stock valued at $86,521,198 in the last ninety days. 42.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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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