Meridian Wealth Partners LLC Increases Stock Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Meridian Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 5.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,740 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $387,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Oracle by 32.2% in the 2nd quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 26,279 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,711,000 after buying an additional 6,406 shares during the last quarter. Lumbard & Kellner LLC purchased a new position in Oracle in the 2nd quarter valued at $9,524,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Oracle by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 28,203 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,982,000 after buying an additional 1,745 shares during the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Oracle in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Monetta Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Oracle in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,059,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Oracle Trading Down 1.7 %

NYSE:ORCL opened at $167.47 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $140.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $130.95. Oracle Co. has a 52-week low of $99.26 and a 52-week high of $173.99. The company has a market capitalization of $464.05 billion, a PE ratio of 45.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.01. 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 (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.06. Oracle had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. The firm had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 43.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $145.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Oracle from $160.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $163.88.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In related news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.89, for a total value of $2,068,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,010,030.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Oracle news, Chairman Lawrence Joseph Ellison sold 1,125,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.69, for a total value of $161,651,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 1,145,732,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $164,630,281,802.57. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.89, for a total value of $2,068,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,010,030.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,868,820 shares of company stock valued at $267,819,424. 42.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.