Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Stock Price Up 1.3% – Here’s Why

Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) traded up 1.3% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $171.82 and last traded at $170.12. 1,921,338 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 13,710,642 shares. The stock had previously closed at $167.89.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on ORCL. Mizuho upped 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. Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded shares of Oracle from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. KeyCorp upped their target price on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.73.

Oracle Stock Up 1.3 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $488.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $170.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $164.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.34 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is 39.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter worth approximately $930,095,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Oracle by 16,023.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,065,083 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $351,890,000 after acquiring an additional 2,052,275 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 11.6% in the 3rd 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 during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 2.7% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 12,327,164 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,012,943,000 after purchasing an additional 1,623,609 shares during the period. 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.