Alta Capital Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)

Alta Capital Management LLC increased its position in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) by 55.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,898 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,571 shares during the quarter. Alta Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $3,761,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 1,423 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Oracle by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,061 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $177,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Cape ANN Savings Bank increased its stake in Oracle by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Cape ANN Savings Bank now owns 5,820 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $970,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. raised its holdings in Oracle by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. now owns 5,731 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $955,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, WorthPointe LLC boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. WorthPointe LLC now owns 1,734 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $289,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho decreased 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $135.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Oracle from $145.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Stephens started coverage on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $167.00 price target on the stock. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Oracle currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $196.74.

Oracle Stock Up 1.2%

NYSE ORCL opened at $210.63 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07. Oracle Corporation has a 52 week low of $118.86 and a 52 week high of $216.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $589.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.53, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a fifty day moving average of $158.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $161.36.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Oracle Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 46.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other news, Vice Chairman Jeffrey Henley sold 400,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.42, for a total value of $76,168,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,097,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $209,000,421.92. This represents a 26.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.77, for a total transaction of $648,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares in the company, valued at $7,538,339.30. This represents a 7.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 427,366 shares of company stock worth $80,183,723 over the last 90 days. 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.