In its recent America’s Top Picks List, Barclays PLC (ADR) (NYSE:BCS) ranked Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL), Cavium Inc (NASDAQ:CAVM), and Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) as some of its top technology stock picks. In this article we’ll look at these three companies and the latest developments surrounding them, as well as gauge the level of interest in them from the smart money, beginning with Oracle.
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In its report, Barclays PLC (ADR) (NYSE:BCS) mentioned that Oracle, which is one of the biggest software companies in the World, is well-placed to capitalize on the product development and internal changes it has implemented in 2015. The analyst expects investor sentiment to improve in the upcoming months. The shares of the enterprise tech giant were down 1.41% on Monday after dismal fourth quarter fiscal 2015 financial results were released by Oracle Corporation Japan. Oracle Japan reported a 4% decline in its operating margin along with a 35% drop in its hardware product sales, and a 3% drop in its service revenues. It is important to note that Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)’s most recent quarterly earnings missed market expectations of $0.82 by $0.08. Barclays has a price target of $48 on Oracle indicating an upside of 18.90% from its current share price. The hedge funds tracked at Insider Monkey had a bearish take on Oracle Corporation heading into the second quarter, with 59 hedge fund managers having $8.71 billion invested in the company as of March, against the $9.31 billion in holdings held by 62 hedge fund managers at the end of 2014. Boykin Curry’s Eagle Capital Management is among the largest shareholders of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL), with his investment position as of March 31 including 44.72 million shares valued at $1.93 billion. Safra Catz, Chief Executive Officer of Oracle Corp, made the biggest insider sale in the past six months, by selling 3.75 million shares on March 27.
Cavium Inc (NASDAQ:CAVM) is another top technology stock pick of Barclays PLC (ADR) (NYSE:BCS), with the analyst expecting multi-year growth in the core business of the company. The shares of the semiconductor company have grown by 11.77% year-to-date and are trading at $69.23. Barclays added, “CAVM’s base business is levered to strong end market growth trends within the security, wireless infra, and data center end markets, but we also see TAM expansion through its Fusion-M (doubles basestation content and likely drives share gains), Liquid IO (gen 2 ramps 2H15), 2/4 core Octeon (addresses FSL $500+ business), and Fusion (small cell) products.” Barclays is not the only analyst firm to have a positive outlook of the company, as the hedge funds tracked at Insider Monkey have upped their stakes in Cavium Inc (NASDAQ:CAVM) during the first quarter. 23 hedge fund managers held $290.20 million in the company’s shares compared to previous holding of just $191.21 million from 26 fund managers. Donald Chiboucis’ Columbus Circle Investors is the largest investor of Cavium in our database, with ownership of 1.15 million shares valued at $81.28 million as of the end of the first quarter. Mr. Syed Ali, Chief Executive Officer, President, and Chairman of the Board of Cavium Inc., unloaded 131,594 shares on March 11, making the biggest insider sale over the past six months.
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Another top technology stock choice of Barclays is Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW). According to Barclays, the long-term growth outlook is positive for the company and it is capable of moving with the demands of the market. The shares of Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) have not performed as per expectations in 2015, being down by 13.97% year-to-date. However, the specialty glass manufacturer is taking interest in other industries, as shown by its announcement today of the acquisition of Gerresheimer AG (NYSE: GXI.DE). Corning has entered into a definitive agreement with Gerresheimer to acquire the pharmaceutical glass tubing arm of the latter for $219.22 million, and the deal is likely to be completed by the end of 2015. Wendell P. Weeks, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and President of Corning Incorporated, said, “…It enables us to bring revolutionary new technologies to the pharmaceutical glass packaging market with Gerresheimer, a long-standing leader in the industry. There are also a number of near-term cost synergies with our global melting and forming operations as well as future sales synergies with our existing Life Sciences customers.” Hedge fund investors were mostly neutral on the stock of Corning Incorporated, with 44 funds holding $1.27 billion in shares on March 31, down a tick from 45 funds holding $1.28 billion in shares three months earlier (the slight dip in value was due to shares’ 1.1% depreciation during the quarter). Richard S. Pzena’s Pzena Investment Management holds a large position in Corning of 7.72 million shares valued at $175.20 million. Mr. Weeks was also the insider credited with the largest insider selling transaction in the past six months, with the sale of 149,161 shares on January 29, as well as two more sales of 93,089 and 64,992 shares shortly afterwards.
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