Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Sold by Easterly Investment Partners LLC

Easterly Investment Partners LLC lessened its stake in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) by 1.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,261 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 530 shares during the period. Easterly Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $4,650,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 71.6% in the 1st quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 257,378 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $35,984,000 after acquiring an additional 107,404 shares during the period. Rockland Trust Co. lifted its stake in Oracle by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 10,165 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,421,000 after buying an additional 467 shares in the last quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Oracle by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 711,290 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $99,445,000 after buying an additional 10,426 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Oracle by 34.1% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC now owns 12,968 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,258,000 after buying an additional 3,299 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Peak Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ORCL shares. Mizuho reduced their target price on Oracle from $210.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Roth Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. DA Davidson increased their price target on Oracle from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Bank of America increased their price target on Oracle from $156.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $214.54.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of ORCL stock opened at $241.25 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. Oracle Corporation has a one year low of $118.86 and a one year high of $244.10. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $192.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $167.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $677.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.59, a PEG ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 1.39.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $15.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. Oracle’s revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Oracle Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.08%.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,866 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.53, for a total transaction of $428,552.98. Following the sale, the director owned 31,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,749,670.92. The trade was a 8.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Maria Smith sold 10,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.99, for a total value of $2,329,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 40,807 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,507,622.93. This trade represents a 19.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 445,366 shares of company stock valued at $84,784,653 over the last ninety days. 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.