Parnassus Investments LLC Decreases Stake in Oracle Corporation $ORCL

Parnassus Investments LLC lowered its position in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) by 17.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,833,081 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 606,165 shares during the quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC owned approximately 0.10% of Oracle worth $396,093,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. lifted its stake in Oracle by 71.6% in the first quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 257,378 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $35,984,000 after acquiring an additional 107,404 shares during the last quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. lifted its stake in Oracle by 4.3% in the first quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. now owns 51,350 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $7,179,000 after acquiring an additional 2,110 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle during the first quarter worth approximately $732,692,000. Rockland Trust Co. raised its holdings in Oracle by 4.8% during the first quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 10,165 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,421,000 after purchasing an additional 467 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Calamos Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Oracle by 1.5% during the first quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 711,290 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $99,445,000 after purchasing an additional 10,426 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In related news, insider Michael D. Sicilia sold 15,880 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.48, for a total value of $4,041,142.40. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 99,212 shares in the company, valued at $25,247,469.76. This trade represents a 13.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Maria Smith sold 10,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.99, for a total transaction of $2,329,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 40,807 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,507,622.93. This trade represents a 19.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 444,183 shares of company stock valued at $86,521,198. 42.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of ORCL opened at $240.19 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07. The firm has a market cap of $674.64 billion, a PE ratio of 55.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.43. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $237.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $184.51. Oracle Corporation has a 12-month low of $118.86 and a 12-month high of $260.87.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $15.90 billion for 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Oracle Corporation will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

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. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.08%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ORCL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $135.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. CIBC reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Monday, June 9th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Oracle from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $190.00 to $270.00 in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $227.04.

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.