Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 234,381 Shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) by 10.6% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,437,951 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 234,381 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $340,850,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Oracle in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Oracle during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on ORCL shares. Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Oracle from $210.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price 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. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Oracle has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $200.63.

Oracle Trading Up 5.3%

Shares of Oracle stock opened at $230.55 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $174.16 and its 200 day moving average is $163.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $647.58 billion, a PE ratio of 53.12, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 $231.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07.

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

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. Oracle’s payout ratio is presently 46.08%.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, Vice Chairman Jeffrey Henley sold 400,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.42, for a total transaction of $76,168,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 1,097,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $209,000,421.92. The trade was a 26.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,866 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.53, for a total value 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 represents a 8.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 440,366 shares of company stock worth $83,103,603 in the last 90 days. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.