Welch & Forbes LLC Boosts Stock Position in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)

Welch & Forbes LLC raised its stake in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) by 0.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 114,319 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 419 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $15,983,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. WorthPointe LLC increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. WorthPointe LLC now owns 1,734 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $289,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Stage Harbor Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Stage Harbor Financial LLC now owns 1,433 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $239,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 11,288 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,881,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hurlow Wealth Management Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Hurlow Wealth Management Group Inc. now owns 4,149 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $691,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on ORCL shares. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of Oracle from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Loop Capital set a $135.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.37.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In related news, insider Clayton M. Magouyrk sold 15,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.10, for a total value of $3,211,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 60,722 shares in the company, valued at $13,000,580.20. This trade represents a 19.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Jeffrey Henley sold 400,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.42, for a total transaction of $76,168,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 1,097,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $209,000,421.92. This trade represents a 26.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 445,366 shares of company stock worth $84,784,653 over the last quarter. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Oracle Stock Up 2.5%

ORCL stock opened at $234.97 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07. Oracle Corporation has a twelve month low of $118.86 and a twelve month high of $241.44. The company’s 50 day moving average is $190.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $167.32. The stock has a market cap of $659.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.14, a PEG ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.39.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $15.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.58 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.68% and a return on equity of 87.34%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Oracle Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.08%.

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.