Oracle Corporation $ORCL Shares Sold by Rafferty Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Oracle Corporation by 20.1%, selling 111,568 shares and holding 444,758 shares worth approximately $62.2 million.
• Wall Street analysts are optimistic about Oracle's growth, with several firms raising their price targets, including JPMorgan's increase to $185.00 and Barclays' to $221.00.
• Oracle announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, representing a yield of 0.8%, with a payout ratio of 46.08%.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 20.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 444,758 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after selling 111,568 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in Oracle were worth $62,182,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 189.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 153,580 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $25,593,000 after purchasing an additional 100,494 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,418 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $903,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the period. Berger Financial Group Inc grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Berger Financial Group Inc now owns 7,452 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $1,242,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 12.5% during the 4th 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. Finally, Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $128,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on ORCL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $135.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $195.00 price target (up previously from $145.00) on shares of Oracle in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $221.00 price target (up previously from $202.00) on shares of Oracle in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Westpark Capital lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $195.00 to $246.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Three investment 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $227.04.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In related news, Director Rona Alison Fairhead acquired 480 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $233.87 per share, for a total transaction of $112,257.60. Following the acquisition, the director owned 22,110 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,170,865.70. This represents a 2.22% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael D. Sicilia sold 15,880 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider owned 99,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,247,469.76. This trade represents a 13.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 444,183 shares of company stock worth $86,521,198 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 42.20% of the company's stock.

Oracle Stock Down 0.4%

NYSE ORCL opened at $235.48 on Tuesday. Oracle Corporation has a 52 week low of $118.86 and a 52 week high of $260.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $235.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $183.37. The firm has a market cap of $661.42 billion, a PE ratio of 54.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.43.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $15.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.63 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Oracle Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a $0.50 dividend. 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 46.08%.

About Oracle

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.