Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Bought by Meeder Advisory Services Inc.

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 36,607 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 510 shares during the quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $6,100,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its position in Oracle by 12.4% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 8,019 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,366,000 after buying an additional 883 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $411,748,000 after acquiring an additional 121,874 shares during the last quarter. United Bank increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 4.8% in the third quarter. United Bank now owns 11,430 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,948,000 after acquiring an additional 519 shares during the period. Atom Investors LP raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 100.2% during the third quarter. Atom Investors LP now owns 8,698 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,482,000 after purchasing an additional 4,353 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in Oracle by 1,257.4% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 92,601 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $15,780,000 after purchasing an additional 85,779 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ORCL shares. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Oracle from $205.00 to $175.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Oracle from $220.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.65.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total value of $64,050,487.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,565,931.52. The trade was a 23.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE ORCL opened at $142.05 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $397.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. Oracle Co. has a 1-year low of $112.78 and a 1-year high of $198.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $162.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $170.02.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.02). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The business had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.41 earnings per share. Oracle’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This is a positive change from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.95%.

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.