Fiera Capital Corp Sells 306,698 Shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)

Fiera Capital Corp trimmed its position in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) by 7.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,091,358 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 306,698 shares during the quarter. Oracle accounts for 2.1% of Fiera Capital Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Fiera Capital Corp owned 0.15% of Oracle worth $572,013,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Oracle during the first quarter worth $543,000. Marco Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.7% during the first quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC now owns 120,197 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $16,805,000 after buying an additional 2,063 shares during the last quarter. Viawealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 37.6% during the first quarter. Viawealth LLC now owns 5,223 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $730,000 after buying an additional 1,427 shares during the last quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 11.5% during the first quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 10,861 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,518,000 after buying an additional 1,122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 3.8% during the first quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,479 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $766,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Oracle Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE:ORCL opened at $247.68 on Tuesday. 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 50-day moving average of $206.18 and a 200-day moving average of $172.36. The company has a market cap of $695.69 billion, a PE ratio of 57.07, a PEG ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 1.39. Oracle Corporation has a one year low of $118.86 and a one year high of $251.60.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $15.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.58 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.68% and a return on equity of 87.34%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Oracle Corporation will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is presently 46.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on ORCL shares. Piper Sandler raised shares of Oracle from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $190.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $215.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $300.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $218.29.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other news, Vice Chairman Jeffrey Henley sold 400,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.42, for a total transaction of $76,168,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 1,097,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $209,000,421.92. The trade was a 26.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Rona Alison Fairhead bought 480 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost 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 sold a total of 448,669 shares of company stock valued at $85,555,309 over the last quarter. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.