Oracle Corporation $ORCL Shares Acquired by Welch Group LLC

Key Points

• Welch Group LLC boosted its Oracle stake by 9.3% in the first quarter, buying 6,331 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 74,617 shares worth about $11.0 million.
• Oracle reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $2.11 topping estimates and revenue of $19.18 billion rising 20.6% year over year. The company also issued guidance for Q1 and FY 2027.
• Despite the upbeat fundamentals, the stock has faced pressure from AI spending and financing concerns, while analysts remain broadly positive overall with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $268.27.

Welch Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 9.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 74,617 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,331 shares during the period. Welch Group LLC's holdings in Oracle were worth $10,977,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,336,031,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 29.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 30,137,126 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $5,874,070,000 after buying an additional 6,826,299 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Oracle by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 174,802,084 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $34,070,674,000 after acquiring an additional 5,841,584 shares in the last quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. lifted its position in Oracle by 882.3% during the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 4,991,010 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $972,798,000 after acquiring an additional 4,482,934 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Oracle by 333.7% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,238,006 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $1,473,137,000 after acquiring an additional 4,030,382 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of ORCL opened at $148.68 on Friday. The business's 50 day moving average is $189.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $175.69. Oracle Corporation has a 52-week low of $134.57 and a 52-week high of $345.72. The firm has a market cap of $428.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.50, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, June 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $2.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.15. Oracle had a return on equity of 58.62% and a net margin of 25.37%.The company had revenue of $19.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $19.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.70 EPS. The business's revenue was up 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. Oracle has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.720-1.760 EPS and its FY 2027 guidance at 8.050-8.050 EPS. Analysts forecast that Oracle Corporation will post 6.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 10th. Oracle's dividend payout ratio is 34.31%.

Key Stories Impacting Oracle

Here are the key news stories impacting Oracle this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Oracle Health and Theator announced an AI-powered surgical reporting partnership, adding another real-world use case for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure in healthcare. Oracle Health (ORCL), Theator Partner to Automate Surgical Reporting with AI
• Positive Sentiment: Several recent articles highlighted Oracle’s massive contract backlog and strong AI cloud demand, arguing the company has improved long-term revenue visibility despite near-term volatility. Oracle's Contract Backlog Swells: Is Long-Term Revenue Growth Secured?
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street sentiment remains broadly constructive, with coverage pointing to dozens of buy ratings and meaningful upside from current levels. Oracle stock has worst week since 2001 dot-com bust as AI financing concerns escalate
• Neutral Sentiment: Oracle was also featured in commentary suggesting the recent sell-off may be overdone and more a valuation/mispricing issue than a fundamental break in the AI story. Oracle's Market Disconnect: The Truth Can Make You Rich
• Negative Sentiment: Investor concern is centered on Oracle’s aggressive AI spending: capital expenditures surged, free cash flow turned deeply negative, and debt is now high, raising questions about financing the buildout. Oracle stock has worst week since 2001 dot-com bust as AI financing concerns escalate
• Negative Sentiment: OpenAI IPO delay fears weighed on Oracle and other AI-related stocks, since Oracle is tied to the broader AI infrastructure trade. OpenAI May Push Back Highly-Awaited IPO to 2027, Slamming SoftBank and Oracle Shares
• Negative Sentiment: Oracle Vice Chairman Jeffrey Henley sold 400,000 shares in a pre-arranged 10b5-1 plan, a headline that can add to sentiment pressure even if the sale was scheduled. SEC filing for Jeffrey Henley stock sale

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Stuart Levey sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.19, for a total value of $2,642,850.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 3,429 shares in the company, valued at approximately $604,155.51. This represents a 81.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Vice Chairman Jeffrey Henley sold 400,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.16, for a total value of $63,664,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 400,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $63,664,000. This trade represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 40.90% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt restated a "hold" rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Oracle from $400.00 to $320.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Oracle from $375.00 to $300.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Oracle has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $268.27.

About Oracle

Oracle Corporation is a multinational technology company that develops and sells database software, cloud engineered systems, enterprise software applications and related services. The company is widely known for its flagship Oracle Database and a portfolio of enterprise-grade software products that support data management, application development, analytics and middleware. Over recent years Oracle has expanded its focus to include cloud infrastructure and cloud applications, positioning itself as a provider of both platform and software-as-a-service solutions for large organizations.

Oracle's product and service offerings include Oracle Database and the Autonomous Database, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), enterprise resource planning (ERP), human capital management (HCM) and supply chain management (SCM) cloud applications (often grouped under Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications), middleware such as WebLogic, and developer technologies including Java and MySQL.

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