Arizona State Retirement System Boosts Stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 478,086 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,777 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Oracle were worth $67,506,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ORCL. Westend Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Tidemark LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Nordwand Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Oracle in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of ORCL stock opened at $143.32 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $138.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $128.12. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $99.26 and a fifty-two week high of $146.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $394.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.01. 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 announced its earnings results 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). Oracle had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 223.01%. The firm had revenue of $14.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.35 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 11th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 11th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on ORCL shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Oracle from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Oracle from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Oracle from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $125.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Oracle from $150.00 to $160.00 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 given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.83.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In related news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.89, for a total value of $2,068,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 58,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,010,030.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Oracle news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,010,030.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Lawrence Joseph Ellison sold 1,125,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.69, for a total value of $161,651,250.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 1,145,732,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $164,630,281,802.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,862,500 shares of company stock valued at $266,776,624 over the last 90 days. 42.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Oracle

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.