Causeway Capital Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Oracle Corporation $ORCL

Causeway Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) by 69.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 491,833 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 201,220 shares during the period. Oracle makes up 1.4% of Causeway Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Causeway Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $68,763,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle during the 1st quarter valued at $732,692,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Oracle by 15,012.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,755,096 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $664,810,000 after purchasing an additional 4,723,631 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Oracle by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,925,413 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $22,498,982,000 after purchasing an additional 3,513,464 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Oracle by 20.5% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 13,825,360 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,303,858,000 after purchasing an additional 2,350,448 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Oracle by 12.5% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Oracle news, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 3,303 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.32, for a total value of $770,655.96. Following the sale, the director owned 31,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,337,214.04. This represents a 9.51% 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 this link. Also, insider Clayton M. Magouyrk sold 15,000 shares of the 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 sale, the insider owned 60,722 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,000,580.20. The trade was a 19.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 444,183 shares of company stock valued at $86,521,198. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ORCL opened at $235.48 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $661.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $235.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $183.37. 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 Corporation has a 12 month low of $118.86 and a 12 month high of $260.87.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $15.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Oracle Corporation will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is 46.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ORCL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $135.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $221.00 price objective (up from $202.00) on shares of Oracle in a report on Friday, June 13th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $220.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Oracle presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $227.04.

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.