CWS Financial Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in Oracle Corporation $ORCL

CWS Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) by 41.5% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,706 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $238,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Tacita Capital Inc increased its stake in Oracle by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Tacita Capital Inc now owns 1,245 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $174,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Oracle by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC now owns 4,333 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $606,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Tiller Private Wealth Inc. grew its stake in Oracle by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Tiller Private Wealth Inc. now owns 1,599 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $224,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of Oracle by 14.9% during the first quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 556 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. increased its stake in Oracle by 4.8% in the first quarter. Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. now owns 1,562 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $218,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE:ORCL opened at $248.86 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07. The company has a market cap of $699.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 1.43. Oracle Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $118.86 and a fifty-two week high of $260.87. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $231.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $181.14.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 87.34% and a net margin of 21.68%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.63 EPS. Analysts expect that Oracle Corporation will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 3,303 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.32, for a total value of $770,655.96. Following the transaction, the director owned 31,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,337,214.04. This trade represents a 9.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Maria Smith sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.99, for a total transaction of $2,329,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 40,807 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,507,622.93. This represents a 19.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 444,183 shares of company stock worth $86,521,198. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on ORCL. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Oracle from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $195.00 price target (up previously from $145.00) on shares of Oracle in a report on Friday, June 13th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. JMP Securities upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $240.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $220.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.