Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Stock Price Down 1.1%

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)’s stock price dropped 1.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $166.81 and last traded at $168.46. Approximately 4,341,066 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 49% from the average daily volume of 8,546,357 shares. The stock had previously closed at $170.33.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ORCL. Melius raised shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday. Barclays lifted their price target on Oracle from $160.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. JMP Securities upgraded shares of Oracle from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $163.88.

Oracle Stock Down 1.8 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $140.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $130.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $463.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. Oracle had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. The company had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 43.13%.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other Oracle news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.89, for a total transaction of $2,068,350.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,010,030.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Oracle news, Chairman Lawrence Joseph Ellison sold 1,125,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.69, for a total value of $161,651,250.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,145,732,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $164,630,281,802.57. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.89, for a total transaction of $2,068,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,010,030.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,862,500 shares of company stock valued at $266,776,624. 42.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oracle

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brio Consultants LLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Brio Consultants LLC now owns 2,942 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC raised its holdings in Oracle by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 3,951 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $417,000 after buying an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter worth $359,000. Aveo Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Oracle in the 4th quarter worth $290,000. Finally, 9258 Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Oracle by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 90,285 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $9,519,000 after buying an additional 560 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.