Merit Financial Group LLC Lowers Stock Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Merit Financial Group LLC decreased its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 37.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,314 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 9,136 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,615,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Bordeaux Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Bordeaux Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,780 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $609,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 90,285 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $9,519,000 after buying an additional 560 shares during the period. Carson Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $208,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its stake in Oracle by 268.6% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 93,348 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $9,841,000 after acquiring an additional 68,020 shares during the period. Finally, SouthState Corp increased its holdings in Oracle by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 140,037 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $14,764,000 after acquiring an additional 7,864 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer started coverage on Oracle in a report on Thursday, April 18th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. William Blair raised Oracle from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Oracle from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Argus raised Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.76.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total transaction of $99,966,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $141,546,631.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director George H. Conrades sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.13, for a total transaction of $2,903,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,071,294.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total value of $99,966,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $141,546,631.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 42.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE ORCL opened at $115.80 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $119.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $113.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.34. The stock has a market cap of $318.28 billion, a PE ratio of 30.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.03. Oracle Co. has a twelve month low of $94.41 and a twelve month high of $132.77.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $13.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.29 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 20.27% and a return on equity of 336.11%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.96 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%. Oracle’s payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

Oracle Company Profile

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.