Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Down 2.3% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) traded down 2.3% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $186.00 and last traded at $186.07. 1,576,192 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 8,231,034 shares. The stock had previously closed at $190.37.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ORCL. KeyCorp increased their price target on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Oracle from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Oracle from $160.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $165.00 price objective on the stock. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.52.

Oracle Trading Down 3.7 %

The business has a 50 day moving average of $176.44 and a 200 day moving average of $150.66. The firm has a market cap of $507.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.02. 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. Oracle had a return on equity of 171.38% and a net margin of 20.40%. The business had revenue of $13.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.95 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $1,042,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,076,685. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 42.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Activest Wealth Management grew its holdings in Oracle by 21.9% during the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 312 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Second Line Capital LLC increased its position in Oracle by 1.5% in the third quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 3,816 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $650,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Cadence Bank raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 0.8% in the third quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 7,605 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,296,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 17,626 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,003,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. Finally, W Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Oracle by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. W Advisors LLC now owns 2,158 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $368,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.