Merit Financial Group LLC Acquires 7,574 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Merit Financial Group LLC raised its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 16.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 54,734 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,574 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Oracle were worth $7,652,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ORCL. Affiance Financial LLC lifted its stake in Oracle by 2.1% in the first quarter. Affiance Financial LLC now owns 5,210 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $728,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the period. Baxter Bros Inc. lifted its stake in Oracle by 13.7% in the first quarter. Baxter Bros Inc. now owns 2,030 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $284,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the period. Inspirion Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Oracle by 3.1% in the first quarter. Inspirion Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,628 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $367,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC lifted its stake in Oracle by 3.5% in the first quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 76,802 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $10,738,000 after buying an additional 2,572 shares during the period. Finally, Graves Light Lenhart Wealth Inc. lifted its stake in Oracle by 1.2% in the first quarter. Graves Light Lenhart Wealth Inc. now owns 7,095 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $992,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company's stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of Oracle stock traded up $3.06 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $171.16. 7,695,879 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,506,422. Oracle Co. has a 12-month low of $118.86 and a 12-month high of $198.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $478.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.85, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $145.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $160.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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). The firm had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.40 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The firm's revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.41 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Oracle's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.17%. Oracle's dividend payout ratio is presently 46.95%.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.77, for a total value of $648,850.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,538,339.30. This represents a 7.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,866 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.53, for a total transaction of $428,552.98. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 31,764 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,749,670.92. This represents a 8.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 27,366 shares of company stock worth $4,015,723. 42.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $130.00 price target (down from $190.00) on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Mizuho lowered their target price on Oracle from $210.00 to $180.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $145.00 target price on Oracle and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Oracle from $205.00 to $175.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Oracle from $212.00 to $202.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $174.42.

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.