Washington Trust Advisors Inc. Sells 269 Shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. cut its position in shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) by 10.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,341 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 269 shares during the quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $327,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Rockland Trust Co. grew its stake in Oracle by 4.8% in the first quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 10,165 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,421,000 after purchasing an additional 467 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC grew its stake in Oracle by 34.1% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC now owns 12,968 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,258,000 after purchasing an additional 3,299 shares in the last quarter. Peak Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Secure Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Oracle by 21.8% in the first quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 13,235 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,850,000 after purchasing an additional 2,365 shares in the last quarter. Finally, City National Bank of Florida MSD bought a new position in Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $274,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other Oracle news, insider Clayton M. Magouyrk sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.10, for a total value of $3,211,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 60,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,000,580.20. This represents a 19.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Vice Chairman Jeffrey Henley sold 400,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.42, for a total value of $76,168,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,097,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000,421.92. The trade was a 26.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 442,366 shares of company stock valued at $83,395,223. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on ORCL. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Oracle from $145.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. BMO Capital Markets raised Oracle from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $200.00 to $235.00 in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $197.67.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $210.16 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. Oracle Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $118.86 and a fifty-two week high of $216.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $590.31 billion, a PE ratio of 48.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.32. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $168.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $162.15.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.06. Oracle had a return on equity of 87.34% and a net margin of 21.68%. The company had revenue of $15.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.63 EPS. Oracle’s revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Oracle Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.08%.

About Oracle

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.