Guardian Partners Inc. Lowers Stake in Oracle Corporation $ORCL

Key Points

• Guardian Partners Inc. has reduced its stock holdings in Oracle Corporation by 3.0%, selling 1,270 shares, leaving them with 40,871 shares valued at $5.37 million.
• Oracle reported a quarterly earnings per share of $1.70, exceeding the consensus estimate of $1.64, and a revenue of $15.90 billion, beating expectations of $15.58 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, with an annualized dividend yield of 0.9%, and a dividend payout ratio of 46.08%.

Guardian Partners Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 3.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,871 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after selling 1,270 shares during the quarter. Guardian Partners Inc.'s holdings in Oracle were worth $5,370,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 284.9% during the 1st quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 204 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other Oracle news, EVP Maria Smith sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were 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 owned 40,807 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,507,622.93. This represents a 19.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 3,303 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.32, for a total transaction of $770,655.96. Following the sale, the director directly owned 31,447 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,337,214.04. The trade was a 9.51% 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 worth $86,521,198 over the last ninety days. 42.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on ORCL shares. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $300.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $245.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $232.61.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ORCL traded up $5.98 during trading on Monday, reaching $238.78. The company had a trading volume of 18,685,572 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,036,564. The company has a fifty day moving average of $239.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $187.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $670.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 1.46. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.06. Oracle had a net margin of 21.68% and a return on equity of 87.34%. The company had revenue of $15.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Oracle Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Oracle's dividend payout ratio is presently 46.08%.

Oracle Company 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.