Sciencast Management LP Raises Holdings in Oracle Corporation $ORCL

Key Points

• Sciencast Management LP increased its holdings in Oracle Corporation by 79%, now owning 25,637 shares valued at approximately $3.58 million.
• Analysts are optimistic about Oracle, with Citigroup upgrading the stock to a "strong-buy" rating and price targets increased by UBS and KeyCorp.
• Oracle announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50, representing an annualized yield of 0.9%, with a payout ratio of 46.08%.

Sciencast Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 79.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 25,637 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after purchasing an additional 11,317 shares during the period. Oracle accounts for about 0.8% of Sciencast Management LP's portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Sciencast Management LP's holdings in Oracle were worth $3,584,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ORCL. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Oracle by 1.1% in the first quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,290 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $879,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Tacita Capital Inc raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 6.0% in the first quarter. Tacita Capital Inc now owns 1,245 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $174,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.7% in the first quarter. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC now owns 4,333 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $606,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Tiller Private Wealth Inc. raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 4.6% in the first quarter. Tiller Private Wealth Inc. now owns 1,599 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cadence Bank raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.0% in the first quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 7,440 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $1,040,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other Oracle news, EVP Maria Smith sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was 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 approximately $9,507,622.93. This trade represents a 19.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 value of $76,168,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,097,576 shares in the company, valued at $209,000,421.92. This trade represents a 26.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 444,183 shares of company stock worth $86,521,198. 42.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ORCL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Oracle from $250.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Oracle from $270.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group lifted their target price on Oracle from $280.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $195.00 target price (up from $145.00) on shares of Oracle in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Oracle from $175.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Oracle has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $291.23.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of Oracle stock traded up $86.89 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $328.40. The company had a trading volume of 131,092,718 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,773,958. Oracle Corporation has a one year low of $118.86 and a one year high of $345.72. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $240.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $187.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market cap of $922.41 billion, a PE ratio of 75.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 1.46.

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

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 9th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Oracle's dividend payout ratio is 46.08%.

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.