Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Up 0.3% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) were up 0.3% on Friday . The company traded as high as $174.92 and last traded at $174.42. Approximately 1,055,683 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average daily volume of 12,243,802 shares. The stock had previously closed at $173.86.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on ORCL. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their target price on Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.73.

Oracle Trading Down 0.2 %

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $169.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $165.35. The firm has a market cap of $485.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.05. 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 posted 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). 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 analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.34 EPS. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ORCL. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,216,314,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Oracle in the 4th quarter worth approximately $930,095,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Oracle by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 157,411,949 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $26,231,127,000 after purchasing an additional 2,296,069 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its position 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 valued at $512,909,000 after purchasing an additional 2,242,520 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 16,023.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,065,083 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $351,890,000 after purchasing an additional 2,052,275 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.