Artemis Investment Management LLP Grows Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Artemis Investment Management LLP grew its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 179.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 579,503 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 372,057 shares during the period. Oracle makes up approximately 1.5% of Artemis Investment Management LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Artemis Investment Management LLP’s holdings in Oracle were worth $98,747,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ORCL. Contour Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 41.5% during the 4th quarter. Contour Asset Management LLC now owns 2,192,950 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $231,203,000 after acquiring an additional 643,490 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp boosted its position in Oracle by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 29,301 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,089,000 after purchasing an additional 3,291 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. grew its holdings in Oracle by 15.3% in the second quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 24,800 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,502,000 after purchasing an additional 3,300 shares during the last quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Oracle by 25.0% in the first quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,492 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $941,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 55.7% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 22,315 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,151,000 after buying an additional 7,982 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on ORCL. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Melius Research raised Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Oracle from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Oracle from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Oracle from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $167.42.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE ORCL opened at $174.43 on Wednesday. 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 $174.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $483.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.02, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.01. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $148.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $135.53.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. Oracle had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. The firm had revenue of $13.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.95 earnings per share. Oracle’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Oracle news, Chairman Lawrence Joseph Ellison sold 1,125,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.69, for a total value of $161,651,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,145,732,353 shares in the company, valued at $164,630,281,802.57. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Oracle news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $1,042,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares in the company, valued at $7,076,685. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Lawrence Joseph Ellison sold 1,125,000 shares of the company’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 value of $161,651,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,145,732,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $164,630,281,802.57. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,146,320 shares of company stock worth $164,762,400 over the last quarter. 42.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.