Creekmur Asset Management LLC Takes Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Creekmur Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,463 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock, valued at approximately $154,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 5.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 147,273,413 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $15,599,200,000 after buying an additional 7,883,515 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Oracle by 3.5% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 18,718,180 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,982,630,000 after purchasing an additional 635,994 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Oracle by 22.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,384,162 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,938,242,000 after purchasing an additional 3,323,334 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its position in Oracle by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 14,599,902 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,539,268,000 after purchasing an additional 2,191,342 shares during the period. Finally, Putnam Investments LLC lifted its position in Oracle by 6.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 697,961 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on ORCL shares. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Oracle from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $141.50.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total value of $99,966,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $141,546,631.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Oracle news, Director George H. Conrades sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.13, for a total transaction of $2,903,250.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 17,836 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,071,294.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total transaction of $99,966,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $141,546,631.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 880,000 shares of company stock worth $110,488,150. 42.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Oracle Price Performance

NYSE ORCL traded down $1.72 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $138.13. 11,330,789 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,730,886. Oracle Co. has a 52-week low of $99.26 and a 52-week high of $142.40. The company has a market capitalization of $379.65 billion, a PE ratio of 37.23, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.25, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $121.04 and its 200-day moving average is $116.13.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 last year, the company earned $1.35 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 11th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 11th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.16%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.13%.

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.