Empowered Funds LLC Has $8.89 Million Stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 27.2% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 70,733 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,134 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $8,885,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Oracle by 5.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 147,273,413 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $15,599,200,000 after purchasing an additional 7,883,515 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Oracle by 22.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,384,162 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,938,242,000 after purchasing an additional 3,323,334 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its holdings in Oracle by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 14,599,902 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,539,268,000 after purchasing an additional 2,191,342 shares during the period. Putnam Investments LLC grew its holdings in Oracle by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 12,339,385 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,300,941,000 after purchasing an additional 697,961 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Oracle by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,909,069 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,223,775,000 after purchasing an additional 204,546 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ORCL. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $175.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $144.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Oracle from $133.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 10th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $145.83.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of ORCL traded up $2.01 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $144.77. The company had a trading volume of 7,361,770 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,582,574. The firm has a market cap of $398.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.02, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a fifty day moving average of $130.88 and a 200-day moving average of $120.70. Oracle Co. has a 12 month low of $99.26 and a 12 month high of $145.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.25.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $14.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.57 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 223.01%. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.35 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 11th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 11th. Oracle’s payout ratio is presently 43.13%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director George H. Conrades sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.00, for a total value of $2,320,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,836 shares in the company, valued at $2,068,976. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Oracle news, Director George H. Conrades sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.00, for a total transaction of $2,320,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 17,836 shares in the company, valued at $2,068,976. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Jeffrey Berg sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.12, for a total transaction of $3,220,200.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 210,712 shares in the company, valued at $30,157,101.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 812,500 shares of company stock valued at $113,578,574 over the last ninety days. 42.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.