Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Down 2.3% – What’s Next?

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)’s stock price fell 2.3% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $164.44 and last traded at $166.06. Approximately 2,685,029 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 11,807,042 shares. The stock had previously closed at $169.96.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on ORCL. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $157.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded shares of Oracle from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.73.

Oracle Trading Down 0.9 %

The firm has a market cap of $470.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The business has a 50-day moving average of $168.97 and a 200-day moving average of $167.87.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The firm had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.34 earnings per share. Oracle’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Oracle’s payout ratio is 39.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total value of $64,050,487.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,565,931.52. This represents a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Activest Wealth Management increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Second Line Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 3,816 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $650,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Cadence Bank increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC raised its position in Oracle by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC now owns 2,240 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $373,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in Oracle by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 1,423 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during 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.