Altfest L J & Co. Inc. Increases Stake in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)

Altfest L J & Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) by 18.3% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 18,350 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,835 shares during the quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $2,565,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Oracle by 189.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 153,580 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $25,593,000 after purchasing an additional 100,494 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Oracle by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,418 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $903,000 after buying an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 47.1% during the fourth quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC now owns 3,066,200 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $510,952,000 after buying an additional 981,955 shares during the period. Waddell & Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 8,797 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,466,000 after acquiring an additional 1,060 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DRW Securities LLC lifted its stake in Oracle by 126.5% in the fourth quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 10,576 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,762,000 after acquiring an additional 5,907 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Price Performance

ORCL opened at $256.52 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $219.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $176.71. 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 capitalization of $720.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 1.43. Oracle Corporation has a 52-week low of $118.86 and a 52-week high of $260.87.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued 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. Oracle had a net margin of 21.68% and a return on equity of 87.34%. The company had revenue of $15.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Oracle Corporation will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Oracle’s payout ratio is presently 46.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Oracle news, Director Rona Alison Fairhead purchased 480 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $233.87 per share, with a total value of $112,257.60. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 22,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,170,865.70. This trade represents a 2.22% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Clayton M. Magouyrk sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 60,722 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,000,580.20. The trade was a 19.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 428,303 shares of company stock valued at $82,480,056 over the last ninety days. 42.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ORCL. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Citigroup raised Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised Oracle from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $190.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Oracle currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $222.75.

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.