Zega Financial LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Zega Financial LLC grew its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 20.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,220 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,227 shares during the quarter. Zega Financial LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,019,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ORCL. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its stake in Oracle by 11.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 192,150 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $26,774,000 after acquiring an additional 19,706 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank lifted its holdings in Oracle by 2.4% during the second quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 340,933 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $48,140,000 after purchasing an additional 8,136 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its position in shares of Oracle by 6.7% in the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 33,689 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $4,757,000 after purchasing an additional 2,103 shares during the period. Argent Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 7.2% during the second quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 104,852 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $14,805,000 after purchasing an additional 7,025 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meridian Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Oracle by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,740 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $387,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ORCL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Oracle from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Oracle from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Oracle from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Melius Research upgraded shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Eleven equities 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 currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $163.88.

Oracle Stock Down 1.7 %

Oracle stock opened at $167.47 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $464.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68. Oracle Co. has a twelve month low of $99.26 and a twelve month high of $173.99. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $140.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $130.95.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. Oracle had a return on equity of 171.38% and a net margin of 20.40%. The business had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.95 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 43.13%.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other news, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.30, for a total transaction of $34,042,967.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 2,626,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $379,042,045.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.30, for a total transaction of $34,042,967.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,626,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $379,042,045.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were 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 directly owns 42,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,076,685. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,868,820 shares of company stock valued at $267,819,424 over the last three months. 42.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.