Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Bought by Meeder Asset Management Inc.

Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 9.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 105,058 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,830 shares during the quarter. Oracle comprises 1.2% of Meeder Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Meeder Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $17,507,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Second Line Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.5% during the third quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 3,816 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $650,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Oracle by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC now owns 2,240 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $373,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 1,423 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $237,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. McLean Asset Management Corp increased its position in shares of Oracle by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 5,447 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $908,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Warther Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,621 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $603,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total value of $389,448,893.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,331,027.20. This trade represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on ORCL shares. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Bank of America dropped their price target on Oracle from $195.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com lowered Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Oracle currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.20.

Oracle Stock Down 3.5 %

Oracle stock opened at $140.75 on Monday. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $112.78 and a fifty-two week 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 firm has a market capitalization of $393.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.41, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $163.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $170.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.41 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side 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 paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 1.42%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.