Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Cuts Holdings in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)

Key Points

• The Maryland State Retirement & Pension System has reduced its stake in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) by 11.6%, now holding 74,865 shares valued at approximately $10.47 million.
• Several hedge funds have increased their holdings in Oracle, with Brighton Jones LLC reporting a 189.3% increase in the last quarter, now owning 153,580 shares.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Oracle; BMO Capital Markets increased its target from $235 to $245 and maintained an "outperform" rating.

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lessened its stake in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 11.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 74,865 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after selling 9,804 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings in Oracle were worth $10,467,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 189.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 153,580 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $25,593,000 after purchasing an additional 100,494 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $903,000 after buying an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Oracle by 47.1% during the 4th quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC now owns 3,066,200 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $510,952,000 after buying an additional 981,955 shares during the last quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC raised its holdings in Oracle by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 8,797 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $1,466,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DRW Securities LLC raised its holdings in Oracle by 126.5% in the 4th quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 10,576 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $1,762,000 after purchasing an additional 5,907 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 3,303 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.32, for a total transaction of $770,655.96. Following the transaction, the director owned 31,447 shares in the company, valued at $7,337,214.04. This represents a 9.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $3,211,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 60,722 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,000,580.20. This represents a 19.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 428,303 shares of company stock valued at $82,480,056 in the last three months. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Oracle from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, June 30th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Oracle from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the company from $190.00 to $270.00 in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $222.75.

Oracle Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of ORCL opened at $256.52 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $720.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.81 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $219.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $176.71.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.58 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.68% and a return on equity of 87.34%. The business's revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Oracle Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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%.

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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