Kinsale Capital Group Inc. Buys 8,473 Shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)

Key Points

• Kinsale Capital Group Inc. increased its stake in Oracle Corporation by 14.9%, owning 65,475 shares, which now represents 2.3% of its total holdings.
• Recent insider transactions revealed that two executives sold significant portions of their shares, with EVP Maria Smith and insider Clayton M. Magouyrk decreasing their holdings by 19.68% and 19.81% respectively.
• Brokerages have recently boosted their price targets for Oracle, with BMO Capital Markets setting a new target of $245.00, while UBS Group increased theirs to $280.00.

Kinsale Capital Group Inc. grew its position in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 14.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 65,475 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after acquiring an additional 8,473 shares during the period. Oracle comprises about 2.3% of Kinsale Capital Group Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Kinsale Capital Group Inc.'s holdings in Oracle were worth $9,154,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ORCL. FMR LLC lifted its position in Oracle by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,002,902 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $6,332,803,000 after acquiring an additional 156,269 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Oracle by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,814,302 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $5,954,961,000 after purchasing an additional 619,619 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Oracle by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,202,421 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $3,366,531,000 after purchasing an additional 1,722,037 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Oracle by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 19,620,534 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $3,269,566,000 after buying an additional 2,176,892 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 20.5% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 13,825,360 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $2,303,858,000 after buying an additional 2,350,448 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ORCL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Citigroup upgraded Oracle from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $221.00 target price (up from $202.00) on shares of Oracle in a report on Friday, June 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $240.00 target price (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Oracle has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $218.29.

Oracle Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of Oracle stock traded up $5.17 during trading on Thursday, reaching $255.77. 11,290,268 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,078,245. 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. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $209.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $173.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $718.41 billion, a PE ratio of 58.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 1.39.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $15.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Oracle Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued 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 0.78%. Oracle's payout ratio is 46.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Rona Alison Fairhead bought 480 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $233.87 per share, for a total transaction of $112,257.60. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 22,110 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,170,865.70. This trade represents a 2.22% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Maria Smith sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $9,507,622.93. This represents a 19.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 448,669 shares of company stock valued at $85,555,309 over the last 90 days. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.