GPM Growth Investors Inc. Acquires Shares of 55,815 Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

GPM Growth Investors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 55,815 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock, valued at approximately $7,881,000. Oracle makes up about 3.4% of GPM Growth Investors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Westend Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Tidemark LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Nordwand Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on ORCL. UBS Group lifted their target price on Oracle from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Oracle from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Oracle from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Oracle from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other Oracle news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.89, for a total transaction of $2,068,350.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares in the company, valued at $8,010,030.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Chairman Lawrence Joseph Ellison sold 1,125,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.69, for a total transaction of $161,651,250.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,145,732,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $164,630,281,802.57. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.89, for a total value of $2,068,350.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,010,030.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,862,500 shares of company stock worth $266,776,624 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Price Performance

NYSE:ORCL opened at $140.71 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.25. The company has a market capitalization of $387.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.01. Oracle Co. has a 12 month low of $99.26 and a 12 month high of $146.59. The business’s 50-day moving average is $138.66 and its 200 day moving average is $128.02.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $14.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.57 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 223.01% and a net margin of 19.76%. Oracle’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.35 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 11th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 11th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.14%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.13%.

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.