Northern Trust Corp Boosts Stake in Oracle Corporation $ORCL

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Oracle Corporation by 0.6% in Q1, now holding 19,741,423 shares valued at approximately $2.76 billion.
• Insider activity includes the sale of 15,000 shares by Clayton M. Magouyrk, representing a 19.81% decrease in their ownership.
• Oracle recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, yielding 0.8%, with an overall dividend payout ratio of 46.08%.

Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 0.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,741,423 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after buying an additional 120,889 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 0.71% of Oracle worth $2,760,048,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tacita Capital Inc raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Tacita Capital Inc now owns 1,245 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $174,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC now owns 4,333 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $606,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Tiller Private Wealth Inc. raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Tiller Private Wealth Inc. now owns 1,599 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 14.9% in the 1st quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 556 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. raised its stake in Oracle by 4.8% during the first quarter. Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. now owns 1,562 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $218,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Clayton M. Magouyrk sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 60,722 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,000,580.20. This trade represents a 19.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Michael D. Sicilia sold 15,880 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 99,212 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,247,469.76. This represents a 13.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 444,183 shares of company stock valued at $86,521,198 in the last ninety days. 42.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Oracle Trading Up 1.4%

Oracle stock opened at $248.48 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $230.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $180.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $697.94 billion, a PE ratio of 57.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 1.43. Oracle Corporation has a 12-month low of $118.86 and a 12-month high of $260.87.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.58 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.68% and a return on equity of 87.34%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Oracle Corporation will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. Oracle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.08%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Westpark Capital raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $195.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $220.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Roth Capital reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $215.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $227.04.

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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