Oracle Corporation $ORCL Shares Sold by Artisan Partners Limited Partnership

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership trimmed its position in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) by 22.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,294,045 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 652,433 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership’s holdings in Oracle were worth $447,132,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ORCL. HFM Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Oracle by 290.9% in the fourth quarter. HFM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Basepoint Wealth LLC bought a new position in Oracle in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Oracle in the third quarter worth about $28,000. Osbon Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Oracle in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Joseph Group Capital Management bought a new position in Oracle in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In related news, EVP Stuart Levey sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.19, for a total transaction of $2,642,850.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 3,429 shares in the company, valued at $604,155.51. This trade represents a 81.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 40.90% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

ORCL opened at $188.26 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $186.43 and its 200-day moving average is $177.61. The stock has a market cap of $541.45 billion, a PE ratio of 32.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.84. Oracle Corporation has a twelve month low of $134.57 and a twelve month high of $345.72.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $2.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $19.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.10 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 56.43% and a net margin of 25.37%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.70 earnings per share. Oracle has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.720-1.760 EPS and its FY 2027 guidance at 8.050-8.050 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Oracle Corporation will post 6.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 34.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Wedbush cut their target price on shares of Oracle from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Oracle from $275.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Oracle from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $268.27.

Key Headlines Impacting Oracle

Here are the key news stories impacting Oracle this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Oracle continued to highlight strong AI and cloud momentum, including new OPERA Cloud AI features for hotels and broader demand for its enterprise software and infrastructure, reinforcing the company’s long-term growth story. New AI Capabilities in Oracle OPERA Cloud Supercharge Hotel Operations
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts and commentators reiterated a bullish view, pointing to Oracle’s huge backlog, improving monetization of AI demand, and the possibility that the market is underestimating its future revenue conversion. Oracle: Discounted AI Story With Outsized Monetization Prospects – Reiterate Buy
• Positive Sentiment: Oracle said details in a report about failed Microsoft cloud leasing talks were inaccurate, limiting the chance that the headline would become a lasting negative if the market views it as overblown. Microsoft’s cloud infrastructure talks with Oracle collapse, Business Insider reports
• Neutral Sentiment: Oracle also announced more customer adoption of its cloud applications, including the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health using Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications to improve operations and care. The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Optimizes Operations and Patient Care with Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications
• Negative Sentiment: Investor anxiety increased after reports that Microsoft walked away from a potential Oracle cloud infrastructure deal worth more than $3 billion over security and compliance concerns, raising questions about near-term deal execution. Microsoft walked away from a $3 billion deal to lease Oracle cloud capacity over security concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Some market commentary also focused on Oracle’s heavy debt load and the cost of its large AI and cloud investment plans, which have fueled concerns about capital spending and financial flexibility. Oracle’s Massive Debt Problem

Oracle Profile

Oracle Corporation is a multinational technology company that develops and sells database software, cloud engineered systems, enterprise software applications and related services. The company is widely known for its flagship Oracle Database and a portfolio of enterprise-grade software products that support data management, application development, analytics and middleware. Over recent years Oracle has expanded its focus to include cloud infrastructure and cloud applications, positioning itself as a provider of both platform and software-as-a-service solutions for large organizations.

Oracle’s product and service offerings include Oracle Database and the Autonomous Database, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), enterprise resource planning (ERP), human capital management (HCM) and supply chain management (SCM) cloud applications (often grouped under Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications), middleware such as WebLogic, and developer technologies including Java and MySQL.