LSV Asset Management Reduces Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

LSV Asset Management decreased its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 6.7% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,231,670 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 88,370 shares during the quarter. LSV Asset Management’s holdings in Oracle were worth $173,912,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Westend Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle in the second quarter valued at about $35,000. Tidemark LLC acquired a new position in Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at about $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. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $144.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research report on Friday, July 12th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Oracle presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $145.87.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

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

Oracle Price Performance

Oracle stock traded down $0.80 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $141.81. The company had a trading volume of 11,154,796 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,056,655. Oracle Co. has a 1 year low of $99.26 and a 1 year high of $146.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.25, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company has a market capitalization of $390.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $138.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $128.47.

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

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 11th were issued a $0.40 dividend. 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 1.13%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.13%.

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.