Meridian Wealth Management LLC Purchases 9,727 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 36.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 36,282 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,727 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $6,182,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Oracle by 2.3% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 13,242,340 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,869,816,000 after purchasing an additional 296,866 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 148.8% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 12,872,300 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,616,855,000 after purchasing an additional 7,699,141 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 6.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,318,962 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,033,430,000 after purchasing an additional 424,500 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 0.9% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,182,917 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,015,862,000 after purchasing an additional 66,444 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 32.3% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,037,100 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $756,100,000 after purchasing an additional 1,473,734 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of ORCL stock opened at $192.78 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $534.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.69, a PEG ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.02. The company’s 50 day moving average is $175.02 and its 200 day moving average is $148.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68. Oracle Co. has a 52-week low of $99.26 and a 52-week high of $196.04.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.23 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Oracle from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Melius upgraded shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.52.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $1,042,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,076,685. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

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.