Panagora Asset Management Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Oracle Corporation $ORCL

Key Points

• Panagora Asset Management Inc. has significantly reduced its holdings in Oracle Corporation by 71%, now owning only 20,899 shares after selling 51,170 shares during the first quarter.
• Analysts have increased their price targets for Oracle, with KeyCorp setting a new target of $225 and UBS raising theirs to $280, indicating growing bullish sentiment towards the stock.
• Oracle reported a quarterly earnings beat with $1.70 EPS, surpassing estimates and reflecting an 11.3% year-over-year revenue growth, reaching $15.90 billion.

Panagora Asset Management Inc. reduced its holdings in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 71.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 20,899 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after selling 51,170 shares during the quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Oracle were worth $2,922,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Oracle in the first quarter valued at $27,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Oracle during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in 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 during the period. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ORCL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $195.00 price objective (up from $145.00) on shares of Oracle in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on Oracle from $245.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $227.04.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of Oracle stock traded down $1.75 on Wednesday, reaching $223.55. 8,756,134 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,853,720. The company has a 50 day moving average of $238.74 and a 200 day moving average of $185.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. Oracle Corporation has a 52 week low of $118.86 and a 52 week high of $260.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $627.92 billion, a PE ratio of 51.51, a PEG ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.46.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $15.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.63 earnings per share. Oracle's revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Oracle Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. Oracle's payout ratio is currently 46.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In related news, insider Michael D. Sicilia sold 15,880 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.48, for a total value 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 approximately $25,247,469.76. This trade represents a 13.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Maria Smith sold 10,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.99, for a total transaction of $2,329,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 40,807 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,507,622.93. This represents a 19.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 444,183 shares of company stock valued at $86,521,198. Insiders own 42.20% of the company's stock.

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.