First Merchants Corp Has $1.85 Million Stock Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

First Merchants Corp trimmed its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 7.1% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 13,084 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 1,005 shares during the period. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,847,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ORCL. Contour Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 41.5% in the 4th quarter. Contour Asset Management LLC now owns 2,192,950 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $231,203,000 after purchasing an additional 643,490 shares during the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp raised its stake in Oracle by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 29,301 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,089,000 after acquiring an additional 3,291 shares in the last quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 16,995 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,792,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Seven Mile Advisory boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 5,236 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $552,000 after purchasing an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goelzer Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Oracle by 25.0% during the 1st quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,492 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $941,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other Oracle news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.89, for a total transaction of $2,068,350.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,010,030.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Jeffrey Berg sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.12, for a total transaction of $3,220,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 210,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,157,101.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.89, for a total value of $2,068,350.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 58,090 shares in the company, valued at $8,010,030.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,862,500 shares of company stock valued at $266,776,624 over the last ninety days. 42.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Oracle Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:ORCL traded up $1.11 during trading on Friday, reaching $139.19. 4,544,571 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,163,030. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $138.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $126.63. Oracle Co. has a 1-year low of $99.26 and a 1-year high of $146.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.25, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market cap of $383.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.02.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $14.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.57 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 223.01%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.35 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 11th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 11th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America increased their target price on Oracle from $144.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Oracle from $133.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Argus upped their price target on Oracle from $145.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.83.

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.