Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Trading 1.8% Higher – Should You Buy?

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)’s stock price traded up 1.8% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $153.00 and last traded at $152.11. 1,324,644 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 8,507,728 shares. The stock had previously closed at $149.45.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on ORCL shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Barclays reduced their price objective on Oracle from $212.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded shares of Oracle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.20.

Oracle Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $423.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $164.90 and its 200-day moving average is $169.77.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.02). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The business had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.41 EPS. Oracle’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.95%.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total transaction of $64,050,487.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,565,931.52. The trade was a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Oracle by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 157,411,949 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $26,231,127,000 after purchasing an additional 2,296,069 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,847,561 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Oracle by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,002,902 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $6,332,803,000 after buying an additional 156,269 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,814,302 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $5,954,961,000 after buying an additional 619,619 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Oracle by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,202,421 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,366,531,000 after acquiring an additional 1,722,037 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.