Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Stock Price Down 2.7% – Here’s Why

Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) dropped 2.7% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $176.56 and last traded at $176.55. Approximately 2,497,334 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 12,003,913 shares. The stock had previously closed at $181.52.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ORCL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut shares of Oracle from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, December 20th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. 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 research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.73.

Oracle Trading Down 3.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $169.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $166.67. The stock has a market cap of $491.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.05.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.34 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total transaction of $389,448,893.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. This trade represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The sale 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 insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ORCL. Norges Bank bought a new position in Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at $2,216,314,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter worth $930,095,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 20.5% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 13,825,360 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,303,858,000 after purchasing an additional 2,350,448 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 157,411,949 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $26,231,127,000 after purchasing an additional 2,296,069 shares during the period. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 268.4% during the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 3,077,947 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $512,909,000 after purchasing an additional 2,242,520 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.