Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Trading Up 2.3% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) shot up 2.3% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $163.09 and last traded at $161.93. 8,315,234 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 44% from the average session volume of 14,816,256 shares. The stock had previously closed at $158.28.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on ORCL shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. BNP Paribas upgraded Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.73.

Oracle Stock Up 5.2 %

The company has a market cap of $476.62 billion, a PE ratio of 41.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 1.06. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $172.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $163.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.34 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total value of $64,050,487.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,565,931.52. This represents a 23.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 1,847,561 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Oracle by 2.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,194,683 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $5,977,015,000 after purchasing an additional 885,041 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 11.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,370,640,000 after purchasing an additional 1,917,416 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Oracle by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 17,898,029 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,049,824,000 after buying an additional 310,709 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in Oracle by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,608,951 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,489,345,000 after buying an additional 54,868 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Oracle Company Profile

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.