Hourglass Capital LLC Trims Stake in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)

Hourglass Capital LLC lessened its stake in shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) by 1.6% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 51,438 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 820 shares during the quarter. Oracle makes up approximately 1.9% of Hourglass Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Hourglass Capital LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $7,192,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 157,411,949 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $26,231,127,000 after purchasing an additional 2,296,069 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Oracle by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,002,902 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $6,332,803,000 after buying an additional 156,269 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Oracle by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,814,302 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $5,954,961,000 after purchasing an additional 619,619 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Oracle by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,202,421 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,366,531,000 after acquiring an additional 1,722,037 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 19,620,534 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,269,566,000 after purchasing an additional 2,176,892 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE ORCL opened at $232.30 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $652.49 billion, a PE ratio of 53.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.39. 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 Corporation has a 52-week low of $118.86 and a 52-week high of $237.99. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $179.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $164.65.

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

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 46.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.24, for a total transaction of $2,646,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,785,531.60. The trade was a 23.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Clayton M. Magouyrk sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.10, for a total transaction of $3,211,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 60,722 shares in the company, valued at $13,000,580.20. This represents a 19.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 440,366 shares of company stock valued at $83,103,603 over the last 90 days. 42.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on ORCL. Evercore ISI reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Roth Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $145.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, Westpark Capital upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $195.00 to $246.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.15.

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.