Oracle Corporation $ORCL Stock Purchased by Welch Group LLC

Key Points

• Welch Group increased its Oracle stake by 10.4% in the third quarter, purchasing 8,237 additional shares and bringing its holdings to 87,507 shares valued at approximately $12 million. Other institutional investors also added to or initiated positions, with institutions owning 42.44% of the stock.
• Oracle reported quarterly revenue of $19.34 billion and earnings of $1.92 per share, beating analyst expectations, while revenue rose 29.6% year over year. The company also maintained a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, equivalent to a 1.5% yield.
• Oracle shares opened at $130.50, well below their 50-day and 200-day moving averages. Despite recent insider selling and mixed analyst price-target changes, analysts maintain a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with a $249.27 target price.

Welch Group LLC grew its position in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 87,507 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after buying an additional 8,237 shares during the period. Welch Group LLC's holdings in Oracle were worth $12,015,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of ORCL. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 2.5% in the third quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 676,936 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $92,975,000 after purchasing an additional 16,360 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust raised its position in shares of Oracle by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 59,859 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $8,219,000 after purchasing an additional 1,758 shares during the period. Columbia Bank raised its position in shares of Oracle by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Columbia Bank now owns 4,726 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $649,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Oracle during the 3rd quarter valued at $96,746,000. Finally, Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Oracle during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Oracle Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $130.50 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $141.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $157.19. The firm has a market cap of $394.60 billion, a PE ratio of 20.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.79. Oracle Corporation has a twelve month low of $114.50 and a twelve month high of $265.81.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.18. Oracle had a return on equity of 48.85% and a net margin of 26.36%. The company had revenue of $19.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.47 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 29.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Oracle has set its Q2 2027 guidance at 1.850-1.930 EPS and its FY 2027 guidance at 8.100-8.100 EPS. Analysts expect that Oracle Corporation will post 6.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 9th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 9th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Oracle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ORCL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. CLSA began coverage on Oracle in a report on Monday, July 20th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $145.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $245.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 11th. KeyCorp set a $285.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research report on Friday, September 11th. Citizens Jmp restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $285.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Oracle from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have issued a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $249.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Michael D. Sicilia sold 22,562 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.59, for a total value of $3,420,173.58. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 182,929 shares of the company's stock, valued at $27,730,207.11. This represents a 10.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Maria Smith sold 2,631 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.70, for a total transaction of $399,122.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 64,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,762,956.90. This represents a 3.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 36,075 shares of company stock valued at $5,342,123. 38.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Oracle

Oracle Corporation NYSE: ORCL is a global technology company that develops enterprise software, cloud infrastructure and database technologies. Its products help organizations store, manage, analyze and secure data, while supporting business operations across industries and geographies.

The company's offerings include Oracle Database, Java, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure and a broad portfolio of cloud-based applications. These applications serve functions such as enterprise resource planning, financial management, human resources, supply-chain management, customer experience and industry-specific operations.

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