J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Trims Stock Holdings in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)

Key Points

• J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG has reduced its stake in Oracle Corporation by 45.2%, holding 13,127 shares worth $1,835,000 after selling 10,829 shares during the first quarter.
• Oracle recently reported earnings of $1.70 per share, surpassing expectations, and its quarterly revenue increased by 11.3% year-over-year to $15.90 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share with a yield of 0.8%, and its dividend payout ratio stands at 46.08%.

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG reduced its stake in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 45.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,127 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after selling 10,829 shares during the quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG's holdings in Oracle were worth $1,835,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new position in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Oracle during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Oracle during the first quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Oracle by 284.9% during the first quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 204 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Oracle Trading Down 3.7%

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $244.44 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $686.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 1.43. 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. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $213.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $174.96.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $15.90 billion for 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Oracle Corporation will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ORCL shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on Oracle from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. JMP Securities raised their price objective on Oracle from $240.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, June 12th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Oracle from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Oracle from $215.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $218.29.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other news, Vice Chairman Jeffrey Henley sold 400,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.42, for a total transaction of $76,168,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,097,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $209,000,421.92. This trade represents a 26.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 3,303 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.32, for a total value of $770,655.96. Following the transaction, the director owned 31,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Insiders sold 428,303 shares of company stock worth $82,480,056 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company's stock.

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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