Ashford Capital Management Inc. Grows Stock Position in Oracle Corporation $ORCL

Ashford Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) by 82.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,440 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,612 shares during the period. Ashford Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,830,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. DDD Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter worth about $1,677,000. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 76,590 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $14,928,000 after buying an additional 3,100 shares during the period. Planning Center Inc. boosted its position in Oracle by 142.2% during the fourth quarter. Planning Center Inc. now owns 6,376 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,243,000 after acquiring an additional 3,743 shares during the last quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Oracle by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 42,616 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $8,306,000 after acquiring an additional 5,692 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Oracle by 870.0% in the 4th quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 671,452 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $128,012,000 after acquiring an additional 602,230 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Oracle Trading Up 4.4%

Shares of ORCL opened at $120.00 on Tuesday. Oracle Corporation has a twelve month low of $114.75 and a twelve month high of $345.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $345.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $168.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $166.18.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $2.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $19.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.10 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 58.62% and a net margin of 25.37%.The firm’s revenue was up 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.70 earnings per share. Oracle has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.720-1.760 EPS and its FY 2027 guidance at 8.050-8.050 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Oracle Corporation will post 6.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 24th. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is 34.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ORCL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Oracle from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Wedbush lowered their price objective on Oracle from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Oracle from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on Oracle from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $265.03.

Oracle News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Oracle this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Oracle won a Pentagon cloud and software contract with a $3.31 billion five-year base value and potential total value of nearly $7 billion over 10 years. The agreement strengthens Oracle’s position in government cloud computing and reinforces its AI-related growth strategy. A $7 Billion Reason to Buy Oracle Stock Now
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Nvidia could provide roughly $250 billion in financing or support for an OpenAI data-center buildout are boosting expectations for Oracle, which could benefit from the project’s cloud and infrastructure requirements. Nvidia and OpenAI Data Center Push
• Positive Sentiment: Falling interest rates are supporting high-growth technology stocks, while Oracle’s upcoming earnings report is expected to show double-digit year-over-year EPS growth. Oracle previously exceeded quarterly EPS and revenue estimates, with revenue rising 20.6% year over year. Tech Stocks Gap Higher as Rates Drop
• Neutral Sentiment: Brokerages maintain an average “Moderate Buy” recommendation, but investors are focused on whether Oracle can convert its large AI and defense pipeline into sustainable cash flow and earnings growth. Oracle Receives Moderate Buy Recommendation
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the Pentagon award, Oracle shares recently fell to a 52-week low and remain down more than 60% from their prior peak. Investors appear concerned that contract wins may not offset spending demands, elevated leverage and execution risks. Oracle Stock Plunged to a 52-Week Low
• Negative Sentiment: Oracle’s debt-to-equity ratio is 3.21, and one major customer may face difficulty meeting its obligations. That raises concerns about liquidity, customer concentration and the cost of financing its aggressive data-center expansion. Oracle Stock Down: Buying Opportunity or Falling Knife

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Vice Chairman Jeffrey Henley sold 400,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.16, for a total value of $63,664,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 400,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,664,000. This trade represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 40.90% of the company’s stock.

About Oracle

Oracle Corporation is a multinational technology company that develops and sells database software, cloud engineered systems, enterprise software applications and related services. The company is widely known for its flagship Oracle Database and a portfolio of enterprise-grade software products that support data management, application development, analytics and middleware. Over recent years Oracle has expanded its focus to include cloud infrastructure and cloud applications, positioning itself as a provider of both platform and software-as-a-service solutions for large organizations.

Oracle’s product and service offerings include Oracle Database and the Autonomous Database, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), enterprise resource planning (ERP), human capital management (HCM) and supply chain management (SCM) cloud applications (often grouped under Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications), middleware such as WebLogic, and developer technologies including Java and MySQL.