Middleton & Co. Inc. MA Reduces Stock Holdings in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)

Middleton & Co. Inc. MA reduced its holdings in shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) by 2.6% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,980 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 107 shares during the quarter. Middleton & Co. Inc. MA’s holdings in Oracle were worth $556,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 19,620,534 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,269,566,000 after acquiring an additional 2,176,892 shares in 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 grew its position in Oracle by 4.3% during 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 during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake 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 valued at $1,136,665,000 after purchasing an additional 585,560 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 15,012.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,755,096 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $664,810,000 after buying an additional 4,723,631 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Oracle Trading Up 3.4%

ORCL stock opened at $252.77 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $709.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.24, a PEG ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 1.43. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $215.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $175.60.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) 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. The company had revenue of $15.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.58 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 87.34% and a net margin of 21.68%. Oracle’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Oracle Corporation will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.08%.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In related news, EVP Maria Smith sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.99, for a total value of $2,329,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 40,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,507,622.93. The trade was a 19.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Clayton M. Magouyrk sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.10, for a total transaction of $3,211,500.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 428,303 shares of company stock worth $82,480,056 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ORCL shares. Piper Sandler raised shares of Oracle from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $190.00 to $270.00 in a report on Thursday, July 10th. CIBC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Oracle from $210.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Citigroup raised Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $218.29.

Oracle Company 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.