Vanguard Group Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Oracle Corporation by 2.2%, owning over 160 million shares worth approximately $22.5 billion.
• Oracle reported a quarterly EPS of $1.70, surpassing analysts’ expectations, along with a revenue of $15.90 billion, reflecting an 11.3% year-over-year increase.
• Multiple analysts have upgraded their price targets for Oracle, with Goldman Sachs setting a new target of $195 and Evercore ISI raising it to $270.

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 2.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 160,925,413 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,513,464 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 5.75% of Oracle worth $22,498,982,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Oracle in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 284.9% in the first quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 204 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Oracle from $135.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $221.00 price target (up from $202.00) on shares of Oracle in a report on Friday, June 13th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $220.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday. CIBC reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Finally, JMP Securities raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $240.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $222.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other Oracle news, Vice Chairman Jeffrey Henley sold 400,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.42, for a total value of $76,168,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,097,576 shares in the company, valued at $209,000,421.92. This represents a 26.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Maria Smith sold 10,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.99, for a total value of $2,329,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 40,807 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,507,622.93. This trade represents a 19.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 428,303 shares of company stock valued at $82,480,056 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 42.20% of the company's stock.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of Oracle stock traded up $0.85 on Wednesday, reaching $256.52. The stock had a trading volume of 9,919,562 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,380,186. The business's 50 day moving average is $217.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $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 Corporation has a 1 year low of $118.86 and a 1 year high of $260.87. The company has a market cap 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.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last posted 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. Oracle had a net margin of 21.68% and a return on equity of 87.34%. The business had revenue of $15.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. Oracle's revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Oracle Corporation will post 5 EPS for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. Oracle's payout ratio is presently 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.