Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC lifted its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 7.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 173,959 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 11,526 shares during the period. Oracle makes up about 1.1% of Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $21,851,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of ORCL. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in shares of Oracle by 39.8% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 46,305 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $4,905,000 after purchasing an additional 13,183 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 22.3% during the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 7,841 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $831,000 after buying an additional 1,428 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 2.7% during the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 57,492 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $6,090,000 after buying an additional 1,489 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 39.8% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 7,991 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $846,000 after buying an additional 2,276 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. increased its position in shares of Oracle by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 23,526 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,492,000 after acquiring an additional 930 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer started coverage on Oracle in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. 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, June 12th. Finally, William Blair raised Oracle from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Oracle currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $145.83.

Oracle Price Performance

NYSE:ORCL traded up $1.98 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $140.21. 7,514,766 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,581,704. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $124.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $117.62. Oracle Co. has a 52-week low of $99.26 and a 52-week high of $145.32. The company has a market cap of $386.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.25.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $14.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.57 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 223.01% and a net margin of 19.76%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.35 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 11th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 11th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.14%. Oracle’s payout ratio is presently 43.13%.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other news, Director George H. Conrades sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.00, for a total transaction of $2,320,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,836 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,068,976. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Oracle news, Director George H. Conrades sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.00, for a total value of $2,320,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,068,976. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director George H. Conrades sold 25,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.13, for a total value of $2,903,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,836 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,071,294.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 348,418 shares of company stock valued at $47,784,717. Corporate insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

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.