Welch Group LLC Grows Stake in Oracle Corporation $ORCL

Welch Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 65,885 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,778 shares during the period. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $14,404,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 2.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,925,413 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $22,498,982,000 after acquiring an additional 3,513,464 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Oracle by 0.6% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 19,741,423 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,760,048,000 after purchasing an additional 120,889 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 0.4% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 13,884,524 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,941,195,000 after buying an additional 59,164 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 3.3% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 12,736,855 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,749,280,000 after buying an additional 409,691 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Polen Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 17.6% during the first quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 12,609,101 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,762,878,000 after buying an additional 1,885,370 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In related news, insider Clayton M. Magouyrk sold 21,241 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.11, for a total value of $6,310,913.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 78,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,174,580. The trade was a 21.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 3,303 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.32, for a total value of $770,655.96. Following the sale, the director owned 31,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,337,214.04. The trade was a 9.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 104,314 shares of company stock worth $31,272,223. Corporate insiders own 40.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Oracle from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $270.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $340.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Bank of America upgraded shares of Oracle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $295.00 to $368.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, BNP Paribas set a $377.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $306.71.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE:ORCL opened at $293.04 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $266.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $210.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $835.40 billion, a PE ratio of 67.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.33, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.62. Oracle Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $118.86 and a fifty-two week high of $345.72.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $14.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.04 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.08% and a return on equity of 72.93%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.39 EPS. Oracle has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 1.270-1.310 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Oracle Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 9th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 46.30%.

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.