Oracle Corporation $ORCL is DnB Asset Management AS’s 9th Largest Position

DnB Asset Management AS boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) by 576.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,187,306 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,863,807 shares during the quarter. Oracle accounts for 1.4% of DnB Asset Management AS’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. DnB Asset Management AS owned approximately 0.08% of Oracle worth $305,807,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ORCL. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 71.6% in the 1st quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 257,378 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $35,984,000 after buying an additional 107,404 shares during the period. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. raised its holdings 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 valued at $7,179,000 after acquiring an additional 2,110 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Oracle in the first quarter worth approximately $732,692,000. Rockland Trust Co. lifted its stake in Oracle by 4.8% in the first quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 10,165 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,421,000 after acquiring an additional 467 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Calamos Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Oracle by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 711,290 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $99,445,000 after acquiring an additional 10,426 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE ORCL opened at $223.55 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $627.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.46. Oracle Corporation has a 52-week low of $118.86 and a 52-week high of $260.87. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $238.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $185.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.63 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Oracle Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 46.08%.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In related news, Vice Chairman Jeffrey Henley sold 400,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 1,097,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $209,000,421.92. This represents a 26.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Michael D. Sicilia sold 15,880 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 99,212 shares in the company, valued at $25,247,469.76. This represents a 13.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 444,183 shares of company stock worth $86,521,198 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ORCL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised shares of Oracle from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $190.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $180.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, June 30th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. CIBC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, JMP Securities increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $240.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $227.04.

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.