Inspire Trust Co. N.A. Grows Stock Holdings in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)

Inspire Trust Co. N.A. lifted its position in shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) by 18.6% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 38,117 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,977 shares during the period. Oracle makes up approximately 1.3% of Inspire Trust Co. N.A.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Inspire Trust Co. N.A.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $5,329,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 71.6% in the first 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 purchasing an additional 107,404 shares in the last quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,110 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle in the first quarter valued at $732,692,000. Rockland Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 4.8% in the first quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 10,165 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,421,000 after purchasing an additional 467 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Calamos Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.5% in the first quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 711,290 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $99,445,000 after purchasing an additional 10,426 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Oracle Stock Performance

ORCL opened at $244.40 on Thursday. Oracle Corporation has a 52-week low of $118.86 and a 52-week high of $260.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07. The company has a market cap of $686.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.43. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $227.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $179.21.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.06. Oracle had a net margin of 21.68% and a return on equity of 87.34%. The firm had revenue of $15.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Oracle Corporation will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.08%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ORCL shares. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. JMP Securities raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $240.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Finally, 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 note on Thursday, July 10th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $222.75.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In related news, insider Clayton M. Magouyrk sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.10, for a total value of $3,211,500.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 60,722 shares in the company, valued at $13,000,580.20. This represents a 19.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Rona Alison Fairhead acquired 480 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $233.87 per share, for a total transaction of $112,257.60. Following the transaction, the director owned 22,110 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,170,865.70. This represents a 2.22% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 444,183 shares of company stock valued at $86,521,198 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

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.