Empirical Finance LLC Raises Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Empirical Finance LLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 4.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 46,347 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,937 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $5,822,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Westend Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Tidemark LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the first quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Nordwand Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other Oracle news, Director George H. Conrades sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.00, for a total transaction of $2,320,000.00. Following 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Oracle news, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 2,626,764 shares in the company, valued at $379,042,045.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $2,320,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 17,836 shares in the company, valued at $2,068,976. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 812,500 shares of company stock worth $113,578,574. Company insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Oracle from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Oracle from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Oracle from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Oracle from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Oracle from $144.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.83.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of ORCL stock traded up $2.01 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $144.77. 7,279,496 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,608,765. Oracle Co. has a 1 year low of $99.26 and a 1 year high of $145.79. The company has a market cap of $398.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.02. The company’s 50 day moving average is $130.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $120.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.25, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.02). Oracle had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 223.01%. The company had revenue of $14.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.35 EPS. Oracle’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 11th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 11th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.11%. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 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.