Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Trims Stock Position in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)

Key Points

• Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC has significantly reduced its stake in Oracle Corporation by 71.7%, selling over 2.2 million shares, leaving them with approximately 871,206 shares valued at $121.8 million.
• Oracle reported earnings per share of $1.70 for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations, with revenue also surpassing estimates at $15.90 billion.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, translating to an annual dividend yield of 0.8% based on a payout ratio of 46.08%.

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 71.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 871,206 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after selling 2,206,741 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in Oracle were worth $121,803,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Oracle in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Oracle in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Oracle by 284.9% in 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 during the period. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Loop Capital set a $135.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $222.75.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Clayton M. Magouyrk sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.10, for a total transaction of $3,211,500.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 60,722 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,000,580.20. The trade was a 19.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Michael D. Sicilia sold 15,880 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.48, for a total transaction of $4,041,142.40. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 99,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,247,469.76. This represents a 13.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 444,183 shares of company stock valued at $86,521,198 in the last quarter. Insiders own 42.20% of the company's stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

Oracle stock traded up $0.71 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $244.89. 10,274,959 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,188,398. Oracle Corporation has a 12-month low of $118.86 and a 12-month high of $260.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market cap of $687.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 1.43. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $229.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $179.81.

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, 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 company had revenue of $15.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.58 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. Oracle's revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Oracle Corporation will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 24th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Oracle's payout ratio is currently 46.08%.

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.