Auto Owners Insurance Co Raises Stake in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)

Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its position in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) by 1,848.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 315,378 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 299,191 shares during the quarter. Oracle makes up approximately 0.9% of Auto Owners Insurance Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Auto Owners Insurance Co’s holdings in Oracle were worth $47,986,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Oracle by 284.9% in the first quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 204 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE ORCL opened at $238.37 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. The company has a market cap of $669.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 1.39. Oracle Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $118.86 and a fifty-two week high of $251.60. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $196.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $168.97.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.63 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Oracle Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.08%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Clayton M. Magouyrk sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.10, for a total transaction of $3,211,500.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 60,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,000,580.20. This trade represents a 19.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Jeffrey Henley sold 400,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.42, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 26.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 448,669 shares of company stock valued at $85,555,309 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler upgraded Oracle from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $190.00 to $270.00 in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Loop Capital set a $135.00 price objective on Oracle in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on Oracle from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Oracle from $156.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $218.29.

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.