Williams Financial LLC Purchases New Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Williams Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 18,744 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,647,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth $1,210,181,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 148.8% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 12,872,300 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,616,855,000 after acquiring an additional 7,699,141 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 382.4% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,563,366 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $481,820,000 after acquiring an additional 3,617,413 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 22.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,384,162 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,938,242,000 after acquiring an additional 3,323,334 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 131.2% in the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,911,201 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $552,262,000 after acquiring an additional 2,219,450 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In related news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.89, for a total transaction of $2,068,350.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares in the company, valued at $8,010,030.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Chairman Lawrence Joseph Ellison sold 1,125,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.69, for a total transaction of $161,651,250.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,145,732,353 shares in the company, valued at $164,630,281,802.57. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.89, for a total value of $2,068,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 58,090 shares in the company, valued at $8,010,030.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,862,500 shares of company stock worth $266,776,624 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ORCL shares. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Oracle from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Argus lifted their price objective on Oracle from $145.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Oracle from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Oracle from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $145.83.

Oracle Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of Oracle stock traded up $0.54 on Friday, reaching $137.47. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,893,787 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,289,465. The company has a market capitalization of $378.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.02. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $138.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $125.89. Oracle Co. has a 52 week low of $99.26 and a 52 week high of $146.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.25.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $14.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.57 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 223.01% and a net margin of 19.76%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.35 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 11th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 11th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.16%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.13%.

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.