Krane Funds Advisors LLC Boosts Position in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)

Krane Funds Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) by 109.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,516 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,837 shares during the period. Krane Funds Advisors LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $492,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle during the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new position in Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on ORCL shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on shares of Oracle from $214.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $135.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $180.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Oracle news, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,866 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.53, for a total transaction of $428,552.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 31,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,749,670.92. This trade represents a 8.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.24, for a total value of $2,646,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,785,531.60. This represents a 23.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 440,366 shares of company stock valued at $83,103,603. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:ORCL opened at $219.12 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $172.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $162.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $615.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.49, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 1.39. Oracle Corporation has a 1 year low of $118.86 and a 1 year high of $228.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $15.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.58 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 87.34% and a net margin of 21.68%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Oracle Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.08%.

Oracle 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.