Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Sold by Howard Capital Management Inc.

Key Points

• Howard Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in Oracle Corporation by 13.3%, owning 8,678 shares worth $1,213,000 after selling 1,335 shares in the 1st quarter.
• Institutional investors now hold 42.44% of Oracle's stock, with several hedge funds making new acquisitions and increasing their stakes in the company during the same period.
• Research analysts have raised Oracle's price targets, with Guggenheim boosting their target from $220 to $250, while the average price target across analysts is $218.29, indicating a positive outlook for the stock.

Howard Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 13.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,678 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after selling 1,335 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,213,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. lifted its stake in Oracle by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. now owns 5,731 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $955,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Hurlow Wealth Management Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Hurlow Wealth Management Group Inc. now owns 4,149 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $691,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC now owns 4,333 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $606,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 14.9% in the 1st quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 556 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Finally, Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 4.8% during the first quarter. Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. now owns 1,562 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $218,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In related news, insider Clayton M. Magouyrk sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.10, for a total value of $3,211,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 60,722 shares in the company, valued at $13,000,580.20. The trade was a 19.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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 stock was 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 in the company, valued at $7,337,214.04. This trade represents a 9.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 431,169 shares of company stock worth $82,908,609. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE:ORCL traded down $6.50 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $247.27. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,131,479 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,038,698. The business's fifty day moving average is $211.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $174.13. The stock has a market cap of $694.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.91, a PEG ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 1.39. 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 Corporation has a 1 year low of $118.86 and a 1 year high of $260.87.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts' expectations of $15.58 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 87.34% and a net margin of 21.68%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Oracle Corporation will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ORCL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. JMP Securities lifted their target price on Oracle from $240.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $195.00 price target (up from $145.00) on shares of Oracle in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently 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.