Lumbard & Kellner LLC Takes Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Lumbard & Kellner LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 67,453 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,524,000. Oracle makes up about 4.5% of Lumbard & Kellner LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Westend Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Tidemark LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Oracle during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on ORCL. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Melius raised shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Oracle from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Argus increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $145.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $163.88.

Oracle Trading Up 5.1 %

NYSE:ORCL opened at $170.37 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68. Oracle Co. has a 1-year low of $99.26 and a 1-year high of $173.99. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $140.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $130.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $472.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.92, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.01.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.06. Oracle had a return on equity of 171.38% and a net margin of 20.40%. The business had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. Oracle’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.13%.

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.