Strategy Asset Managers LLC Acquires New Stake in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)

Key Points

• Strategy Asset Managers LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle Corporation during the 1st quarter, acquiring 4,890 shares valued at approximately $684,000.
• Approximately 42.44% of Oracle's stock is owned by institutional investors, with several firms increasing their positions in the company.
• Oracle recently reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings, with an EPS of $1.70, surpassing estimates of $1.64, and revenue of $15.90 billion.

Strategy Asset Managers LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 4,890 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock, valued at approximately $684,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ORCL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 2.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,925,413 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $22,498,982,000 after acquiring an additional 3,513,464 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Oracle by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 19,620,534 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $3,269,566,000 after purchasing an additional 2,176,892 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Oracle by 20.5% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 13,825,360 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $2,303,858,000 after purchasing an additional 2,350,448 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Oracle by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,046,273 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $1,340,830,000 after purchasing an additional 335,352 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in Oracle by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 6,821,083 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $1,136,665,000 after purchasing an additional 585,560 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Oracle news, EVP Maria Smith sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 40,807 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,507,622.93. This represents a 19.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rona Alison Fairhead bought 480 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $233.87 per share, for a total transaction of $112,257.60. Following the transaction, the director owned 22,110 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,170,865.70. This trade represents a 2.22% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 428,303 shares of company stock worth $82,480,056 in the last 90 days. 42.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on ORCL. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $215.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. JMP Securities raised their target price on Oracle from $240.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Stifel Nicolaus raised Oracle from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, June 30th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Oracle from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated 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. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Oracle presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $222.75.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of ORCL stock traded up $0.85 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $256.52. 9,919,562 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,380,186. Oracle Corporation has a 52-week low of $118.86 and a 52-week high of $260.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07. The company has a market cap of $720.51 billion, a PE ratio of 59.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $217.36 and a 200 day moving average of $176.15.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.06. Oracle had a return on equity of 87.34% and a net margin of 21.68%. The company had revenue of $15.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. Oracle's quarterly revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Thursday, July 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. Oracle's payout ratio is presently 46.08%.

About Oracle

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.