Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Purchased by EP Wealth Advisors LLC

EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 63.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 84,370 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 32,877 shares during the quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $11,913,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Oracle by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 151,213,890 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $18,993,977,000 after purchasing an additional 1,514,569 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,466,713 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,319,604,000 after buying an additional 82,551 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 2.3% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 13,242,340 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,869,816,000 after buying an additional 296,866 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Oracle by 148.8% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 12,872,300 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,616,855,000 after acquiring an additional 7,699,141 shares during the period. Finally, Putnam Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Oracle by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 12,339,385 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,300,941,000 after acquiring an additional 697,961 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Barclays raised their target price on Oracle from $160.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $166.13.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In related news, Chairman Lawrence Joseph Ellison sold 1,125,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.69, for a total value of $161,651,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 1,145,732,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $164,630,281,802.57. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Edward Screven sold 426,861 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total transaction of $60,575,844.51. Following the sale, the insider now owns 2,626,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $372,764,079.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Lawrence Joseph Ellison sold 1,125,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.69, for a total transaction of $161,651,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,145,732,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $164,630,281,802.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,573,181 shares of company stock worth $225,338,245. 42.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Oracle Stock Performance

Oracle stock opened at $168.74 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $144.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $133.79. The stock has a market cap of $467.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Oracle Co. has a 1-year low of $99.26 and a 1-year high of $173.99.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $13.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.23 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 171.38% and a net margin of 20.40%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.