Candriam S.C.A. Grows Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Candriam S.C.A. increased its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 8.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 103,114 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,708 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $14,559,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Westend Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Tidemark LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on ORCL shares. Argus boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $145.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $145.87.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other Oracle news, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.30, for a total value of $34,042,967.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,626,764 shares in the company, valued at $379,042,045.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.89, for a total value of $2,068,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,010,030.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.30, for a total value of $34,042,967.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,626,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $379,042,045.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,862,500 shares of company stock worth $266,776,624 over the last three months. Insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Down 0.6 %

ORCL stock opened at $141.81 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $138.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $128.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.25, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.71. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $99.26 and a fifty-two week high of $146.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $390.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.22, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.01.

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

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 25th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.13%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.13%.

Oracle 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.