Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Down 2.1%

Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) fell 2.1% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $166.08 and last traded at $166.76. 1,785,941 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 8,581,292 shares. The stock had previously closed at $170.40.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ORCL. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Melius upgraded shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $167.42.

Oracle Trading Down 1.5 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $145.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $134.11. The company has a market cap of $465.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.02, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.01.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. Oracle had a return on equity of 171.38% and a net margin of 20.40%. The company had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.95 earnings per share. Oracle’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Lawrence Joseph Ellison sold 1,125,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.69, for a total value of $161,651,250.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,145,732,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $164,630,281,802.57. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Edward Screven sold 426,861 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total value of $60,575,844.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 2,626,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $372,764,079.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Lawrence Joseph Ellison sold 1,125,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.69, for a total transaction of $161,651,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,145,732,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $164,630,281,802.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,573,181 shares of company stock worth $225,338,245 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 151,213,890 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $18,993,977,000 after acquiring an additional 1,514,569 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,466,713 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,319,604,000 after acquiring an additional 82,551 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 13,242,340 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,869,816,000 after acquiring an additional 296,866 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 148.8% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 12,872,300 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,616,855,000 after acquiring an additional 7,699,141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Putnam Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 12,339,385 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,300,941,000 after acquiring an additional 697,961 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

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.