Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Sold by First Merchants Corp

First Merchants Corp decreased its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 14.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,549 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 2,115 shares during the quarter. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in Oracle were worth $2,091,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Oracle by 16,023.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,065,083 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $351,890,000 after acquiring an additional 2,052,275 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Oracle by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,370,640,000 after acquiring an additional 1,917,416 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Oracle by 2.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $12,003,241,000 after purchasing an additional 1,847,561 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 279.7% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,210,745 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $201,759,000 after purchasing an additional 891,842 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 2.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,194,683 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $5,977,015,000 after purchasing an additional 885,041 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total value of $389,448,893.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,331,027.20. The trade was a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Up 1.1 %

ORCL opened at $174.08 on Friday. Oracle Co. has a 52 week low of $106.51 and a 52 week high of $198.31. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $169.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $165.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The company has a market cap of $486.89 billion, a PE ratio of 42.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.05.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The company had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.34 EPS. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 39.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $157.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut Oracle from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.73.

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.