Varenne Capital Partners Buys New Shares in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)

Key Points

• Varenne Capital Partners has invested approximately $167,000 in Oracle Corporation, acquiring 20,936 shares, which constitutes about 0.1% of their portfolio.
• Significant institutional investments in Oracle include a $732.69 million purchase by Nuveen LLC and a 15,012.3% increase in GAMMA Investing LLC's position, reflecting growing confidence in the company's future.
• Oracle recently reported earnings of $1.70 EPS, topping estimates and indicating a revenue increase of 11.3% year-over-year, alongside a quarterly dividend declaration of $0.50.

Varenne Capital Partners acquired a new position in shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 20,936 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock, valued at approximately $167,000. Oracle accounts for approximately 0.1% of Varenne Capital Partners' holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ORCL. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 71.6% during the first quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 257,378 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $35,984,000 after purchasing an additional 107,404 shares during the period. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. increased its position in Oracle by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. now owns 51,350 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $7,179,000 after buying an additional 2,110 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Oracle during the 1st quarter worth approximately $732,692,000. Rockland Trust Co. boosted its holdings in Oracle by 4.8% in the first quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 10,165 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $1,421,000 after acquiring an additional 467 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Calamos Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Oracle by 1.5% in the first quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 711,290 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $99,445,000 after acquiring an additional 10,426 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company's stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of ORCL traded up $3.52 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $248.48. The company's stock had a trading volume of 11,535,891 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,821,110. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $230.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $180.52. Oracle Corporation has a 52-week low of $118.86 and a 52-week high of $260.87. 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 company has a market cap of $697.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.25, a PEG ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 1.43.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 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%. Oracle's revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect 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 was paid on Thursday, July 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. Oracle's dividend payout ratio is 46.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In related news, insider Clayton M. Magouyrk sold 15,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.10, for a total transaction of $3,211,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 60,722 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,000,580.20. This trade represents a 19.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Rona Alison Fairhead bought 480 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $233.87 per share, with a total value of $112,257.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 22,110 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,170,865.70. This represents a 2.22% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 444,183 shares of company stock worth $86,521,198 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 42.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on ORCL. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Oracle from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, June 30th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $240.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $300.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $221.00 price target (up previously from $202.00) on shares of Oracle in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $227.04.

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.