Alliancebernstein L.P. Sells 525,920 Shares of Oracle Corporation $ORCL

Alliancebernstein L.P. trimmed its stake in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) by 6.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,195,543 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 525,920 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned approximately 0.26% of Oracle worth $1,006,009,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Oracle by 2.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 3,513,464 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 19,741,423 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,760,048,000 after acquiring an additional 120,889 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 20.5% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 13,825,360 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,303,858,000 after acquiring an additional 2,350,448 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 12,736,855 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,749,280,000 after acquiring an additional 409,691 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Polen Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 17.6% during the 1st quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 12,609,101 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,762,878,000 after acquiring an additional 1,885,370 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE:ORCL opened at $225.11 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $238.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $185.65. The company has a market cap of $632.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.87, a PEG ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.46. 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 fifty-two week low of $118.86 and a fifty-two week high of $260.87.

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

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.08%.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other news, Vice Chairman Jeffrey Henley sold 400,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000,421.92. The trade was a 26.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael D. Sicilia sold 15,880 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.48, for a total value of $4,041,142.40. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 99,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,247,469.76. This trade represents a 13.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 444,183 shares of company stock worth $86,521,198 in the last three months. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ORCL shares. Bank of America boosted their target price on Oracle from $220.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on Oracle from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Oracle from $245.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. CIBC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on Oracle from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $227.04.

About Oracle

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.