Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Acquired by Arizona State Retirement System

Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 1.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 478,086 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,777 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Oracle were worth $67,506,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Westend Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Tidemark LLC purchased a new position in Oracle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Nordwand Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Oracle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Oracle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Oracle during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Oracle news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,010,030.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Oracle news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,010,030.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Lawrence Joseph Ellison sold 1,125,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 1,145,732,353 shares in the company, valued at $164,630,281,802.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,862,500 shares of company stock valued at $266,776,624. Corporate insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ORCL has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group raised their price target on Oracle from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $175.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Argus raised their price target on Oracle from $145.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Oracle from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Oracle from $144.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $145.83.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE ORCL opened at $143.32 on Friday. Oracle Co. has a 1-year low of $99.26 and a 1-year high of $146.59. The company has a market capitalization of $394.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.44, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $138.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $128.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.25, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

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

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 11th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 11th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 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.