Provident Co of the Employees of the Hebrew University LTD Invests $1.48 Million in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)

Provident Co of the Employees of the Hebrew University LTD bought a new stake in shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 10,600 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,481,000. Oracle comprises approximately 1.7% of Provident Co of the Employees of the Hebrew University LTD's portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in Oracle by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 1,423 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $237,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. now owns 5,731 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $955,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. WorthPointe LLC lifted its position in Oracle by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. WorthPointe LLC now owns 1,734 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $289,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Stage Harbor Financial LLC boosted its position in Oracle by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Stage Harbor Financial LLC now owns 1,433 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $239,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Finally, J. L. Bainbridge & Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. J. L. Bainbridge & Co. Inc. now owns 1,354 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $226,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ORCL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Stephens initiated coverage on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $167.00 price target on the stock. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Oracle from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $200.63.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other Oracle news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 17,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.24, for a total transaction of $2,646,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 58,090 shares in the company, valued at $8,785,531.60. This trade represents a 23.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Vice Chairman Jeffrey Henley sold 400,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.42, for a total value of $76,168,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 1,097,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $209,000,421.92. This represents a 26.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 440,366 shares of company stock valued at $83,103,603. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Oracle Stock Up 5.3%

Shares of NYSE ORCL traded up $11.59 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $230.55. 22,268,986 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,080,969. The company's fifty day moving average is $172.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $162.87. Oracle Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $118.86 and a fifty-two week high of $231.91. 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 cap of $647.58 billion, a PE ratio of 53.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 1.39.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.58 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.68% and a return on equity of 87.34%. The business's revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Oracle Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. Oracle's dividend payout ratio is 46.08%.

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.