Blue Trust Inc. Buys 4,480 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 25.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,136 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,480 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $3,126,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Werlinich Asset Management LLC grew its position in Oracle by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Werlinich Asset Management LLC now owns 2,325 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $326,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. ERn Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 0.6% during the second quarter. ERn Financial LLC now owns 12,911 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,823,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 18.0% during the first quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 530 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Invst LLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Invst LLC now owns 3,299 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $380,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. Finally, Nemes Rush Group LLC raised its holdings in Oracle by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 7,334 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $773,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on ORCL shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Oracle from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Mizuho upped their target price on Oracle from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $144.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.83.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of Oracle stock traded up $0.54 on Friday, reaching $137.47. 4,893,787 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,289,465. The company has a 50 day moving average of $138.39 and a 200 day moving average of $125.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.25, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Oracle Co. has a 52 week low of $99.26 and a 52 week high of $146.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $378.85 billion, a PE ratio of 37.05, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.02.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.02). Oracle had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 223.01%. The firm had revenue of $14.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.35 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 11th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 11th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.13%.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other news, Chairman Lawrence Joseph Ellison sold 1,125,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.69, for a total value of $161,651,250.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,145,732,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $164,630,281,802.57. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Oracle news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.89, for a total value of $2,068,350.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,010,030.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Lawrence Joseph Ellison sold 1,125,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.69, for a total value of $161,651,250.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 1,145,732,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $164,630,281,802.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,862,500 shares of company stock worth $266,776,624. 42.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Oracle Company 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.