Natural Investments LLC Sells 2,805 Shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)

Key Points

• Natural Investments LLC reduced its holdings in Oracle Corporation by 53.2%, now owning 2,463 shares valued at $344,000, according to a recent SEC filing.
• Analysts have set new price targets for Oracle stock, with Goldman Sachs predicting a target of $195.00 and JMP Securities raising it to $315.00, indicating strong positive market sentiment.
• Oracle declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50, with an annualized yield of 0.8%, reflecting its commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Natural Investments LLC reduced its stake in shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 53.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,463 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after selling 2,805 shares during the quarter. Natural Investments LLC's holdings in Oracle were worth $344,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Oracle by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 19,620,534 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $3,269,566,000 after purchasing an additional 2,176,892 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Oracle by 20.5% in the 4th 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 buying an additional 2,350,448 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Oracle by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,046,273 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $1,340,830,000 after buying an additional 335,352 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in Oracle by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 6,821,083 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $1,136,665,000 after buying an additional 585,560 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Oracle by 15,012.3% during 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. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on ORCL. Roth Capital restated a "hold" rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Bank of America increased their target price on Oracle from $220.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $195.00 target price (up from $145.00) on shares of Oracle in a report on Friday, June 13th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $215.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $222.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In related news, Director Rona Alison Fairhead purchased 480 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $233.87 per share, with a total value of $112,257.60. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 22,110 shares in the company, valued at $5,170,865.70. The trade was a 2.22% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Clayton M. Magouyrk sold 15,000 shares of the business'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 sale, the insider owned 60,722 shares of the company's stock, 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 have sold a total of 428,303 shares of company stock worth $82,480,056 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 42.20% of the company's stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE:ORCL traded up $0.85 on Wednesday, hitting $256.52. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,919,562 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,380,186. Oracle Corporation has a one year low of $118.86 and a one year high of $260.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $720.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 1.43. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $217.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $176.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07.

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

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Oracle's payout ratio is presently 46.08%.

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.