Mirova Cuts Stock Position in Oracle Corporation $ORCL

Key Points

• Mirova reduced its stake in Oracle Corporation by 28.3% in the first quarter, owning 13,151 shares after selling 5,197 shares during the period.
• Analysts show a positive outlook for Oracle, with multiple firms, including Bank of America, increasing target prices, reflecting bullish sentiment around the stock.
• Recent insider trading activity includes significant sales, with EVP Maria Smith and insider Michael D. Sicilia selling over 25,000 shares combined, indicating potential shifts in confidence among executives.

Mirova decreased its position in shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 28.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,151 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after selling 5,197 shares during the period. Mirova's holdings in Oracle were worth $1,839,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ORCL. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 1st quarter worth $732,692,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Oracle by 15,012.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,755,096 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $664,810,000 after acquiring an additional 4,723,631 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 2.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,925,413 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $22,498,982,000 after acquiring an additional 3,513,464 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased 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 valued at $2,303,858,000 after acquiring an additional 2,350,448 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Oracle by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 19,620,534 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $3,269,566,000 after purchasing an additional 2,176,892 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $221.00 target price (up previously from $202.00) on shares of Oracle in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Bank of America upped their target price on Oracle from $220.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, CIBC reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Oracle has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $227.04.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In related news, EVP Maria Smith sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 40,807 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,507,622.93. This represents a 19.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael D. Sicilia sold 15,880 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.48, for a total transaction of $4,041,142.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 99,212 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,247,469.76. The trade was a 13.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 444,183 shares of company stock worth $86,521,198. Insiders own 42.20% of the company's stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE ORCL opened at $236.1670 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $663.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.42, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.43. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $235.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $182.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. Oracle Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $118.86 and a fifty-two week high of $260.87.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.06. Oracle had a return on equity of 87.34% and a net margin of 21.68%.The firm had revenue of $15.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.58 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. Oracle's revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. Oracle's payout ratio is 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.

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