Marco Investment Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)

Marco Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) by 1.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 120,197 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,063 shares during the period. Oracle accounts for about 1.6% of Marco Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Marco Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $16,805,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 71.6% in the 1st quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 257,378 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $35,984,000 after acquiring an additional 107,404 shares in the last quarter. Rockland Trust Co. increased its stake in Oracle by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 10,165 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,421,000 after purchasing an additional 467 shares in the last quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC increased its stake in Oracle by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 711,290 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $99,445,000 after purchasing an additional 10,426 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC increased its stake in Oracle by 34.1% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC now owns 12,968 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,258,000 after purchasing an additional 3,299 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Peak Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at about $211,000. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Oracle news, Director Rona Alison Fairhead purchased 480 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $233.87 per share, for a total transaction of $112,257.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 22,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,170,865.70. This trade represents a 2.22% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Clayton M. Magouyrk sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 60,722 shares in the company, valued at $13,000,580.20. This represents a 19.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 448,669 shares of company stock valued at $85,555,309. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on ORCL. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, June 30th. JMP Securities raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $240.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Piper Sandler raised shares of 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. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $195.00 price target (up previously from $145.00) on shares of Oracle in a report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Oracle presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $218.29.

Oracle Trading Up 1.0%

Oracle stock opened at $247.68 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $695.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.07, a PEG ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. Oracle Corporation has a 1 year low of $118.86 and a 1 year high of $251.60. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $206.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $172.36.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $15.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.58 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.68% and a return on equity of 87.34%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.63 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Oracle Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 46.08%.

About Oracle

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.