Highland Capital Management LLC Lowers Position in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)

Highland Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 32.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,330 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after selling 19,904 shares during the quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC's holdings in Oracle were worth $5,918,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC lifted 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 worth $25,593,000 after acquiring an additional 100,494 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Oracle by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,418 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $903,000 after acquiring an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Oracle during the 4th quarter worth about $186,000. Heritage Investors Management Corp lifted its stake in Oracle by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Heritage Investors Management Corp now owns 3,665 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $611,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Linscomb Wealth Inc. lifted its stake in Oracle by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. now owns 37,429 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $6,237,000 after acquiring an additional 813 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Oracle Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $210.16 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $168.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $162.36. The stock has a market cap of $590.31 billion, a PE ratio of 48.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07. Oracle Corporation has a 52-week low of $118.86 and a 52-week high of $216.93.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company's revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Oracle Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ORCL has been the topic of several research reports. KeyCorp increased their target price on Oracle from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Oracle from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price target on Oracle from $214.00 to $175.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $197.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other Oracle news, insider Clayton M. Magouyrk sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.10, for a total transaction of $3,211,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 60,722 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,000,580.20. This represents a 19.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Jeffrey Henley sold 400,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.42, for a total value of $76,168,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,097,576 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $209,000,421.92. This represents a 26.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 442,366 shares of company stock worth $83,395,223. 42.20% of the stock is 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.

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