Lumbard & Kellner LLC Makes New $9.52 Million Investment in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Lumbard & Kellner LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 67,453 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,524,000. Oracle makes up approximately 4.5% of Lumbard & Kellner LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Oracle by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 151,213,890 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $18,993,977,000 after acquiring an additional 1,514,569 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Oracle by 0.4% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,466,713 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,319,604,000 after purchasing an additional 82,551 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its position in Oracle by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 14,599,902 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,539,268,000 after purchasing an additional 2,191,342 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in Oracle by 148.8% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 12,872,300 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,616,855,000 after buying an additional 7,699,141 shares during the period. Finally, Putnam Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Oracle by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 12,339,385 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,300,941,000 after buying an additional 697,961 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Guggenheim upped their target price on Oracle from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Melius raised shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Oracle from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $163.88.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In related news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of Oracle 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 owns 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.30, for a total transaction of $34,042,967.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,626,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $379,042,045.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,010,030.10. 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. Insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ORCL opened at $170.37 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market cap of $472.09 billion, a PE ratio of 45.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $140.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $130.57. Oracle Co. has a one year low of $99.26 and a one year high of $173.99.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $13.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.23 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.95 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5.06 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.13%.

Oracle Company 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.