Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Has $37.97 Million Stock Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 227,848 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 433 shares during the quarter. Oracle accounts for 1.2% of Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $37,969,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ORCL. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Oracle by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $411,748,000 after buying an additional 121,874 shares during the last quarter. RMR Wealth Builders grew its position in shares of Oracle by 383.4% in the fourth quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 7,155 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,192,000 after purchasing an additional 5,675 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 24.8% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 164,593 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $27,428,000 after purchasing an additional 32,718 shares during the period. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter worth about $1,800,000. Finally, Chase Investment Counsel Corp bought a new stake in Oracle during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $4,160,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total transaction of $389,448,893.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. The trade was a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ORCL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their price target on Oracle from $157.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of Oracle in a research report on Friday, January 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $214.00 target price on the stock. BNP Paribas raised shares of Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.73.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of ORCL stock opened at $174.53 on Friday. Oracle Co. has a 52 week low of $106.51 and a 52 week high of $198.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $488.15 billion, a PE ratio of 42.67, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $170.42 and its 200-day moving average is $164.35.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.34 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.12%.

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.