Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 234,381 Shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 10.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,437,951 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after buying an additional 234,381 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Oracle worth $340,850,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ORCL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 157,411,949 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $26,231,127,000 after purchasing an additional 2,296,069 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Oracle by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,002,902 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $6,332,803,000 after purchasing an additional 156,269 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Oracle by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,814,302 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $5,954,961,000 after buying an additional 619,619 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Oracle by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,202,421 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $3,366,531,000 after buying an additional 1,722,037 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 2,176,892 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company's stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE ORCL traded up $7.41 during trading on Friday, hitting $237.39. 18,441,376 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,140,491. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $666.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.70, a PEG ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 1.39. Oracle Corporation has a 12-month low of $118.86 and a 12-month high of $237.99. The business has a 50 day moving average of $176.16 and a 200-day moving average of $163.79.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.06. Oracle had a net margin of 21.68% and a return on equity of 87.34%. The company 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 posted $1.63 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Oracle Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. Oracle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Vice Chairman Jeffrey Henley sold 400,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.42, for a total transaction of $76,168,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 1,097,576 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $209,000,421.92. This represents a 26.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,866 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.53, for a total transaction of $428,552.98. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 31,764 shares in the company, valued at $4,749,670.92. This represents a 8.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 440,366 shares of company stock worth $83,103,603 in the last 90 days. 42.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. JMP Securities set a $240.00 price target on shares of Oracle and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Loop Capital set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $195.00 target price (up from $145.00) on shares of Oracle in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on Oracle from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Oracle presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $204.15.

Oracle Company 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.