Alliancebernstein L.P. Grows Stake in Oracle Corporation $ORCL

Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,216,286 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,743 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 0.26% of Oracle worth $1,577,697,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Winnow Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Oracle during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Kilter Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. LGT Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Oracle in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, HighMark Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Oracle during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Oracle Trading Down 11.0%

ORCL stock opened at $198.57 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.33. Oracle Corporation has a twelve month low of $118.86 and a twelve month high of $345.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $566.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.66. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $247.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $240.60.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, December 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.62. The business had revenue of $16.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.19 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 25.28% and a return on equity of 78.59%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.47 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Oracle Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 9th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.30%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Jeffrey Berg sold 49,365 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.02, for a total value of $13,971,282.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 151,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,018,756.98. The trade was a 24.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Stuart Levey sold 19,758 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $5,927,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 18,429 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,528,700. The trade was a 51.74% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 171,513 shares of company stock worth $50,397,893. 40.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ORCL shares. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price target on Oracle from $400.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Rothschild Redb upgraded Oracle to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $342.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Oracle in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $280.00 price target on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Oracle from $270.00 to $230.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $304.27.

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.