Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Trading 0.6% Higher

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) rose 0.6% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $169.10 and last traded at $168.08. Approximately 2,186,453 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 8,576,612 shares. The stock had previously closed at $167.16.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. 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. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Oracle from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Oracle from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Oracle from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $167.42.

Oracle Price Performance

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $146.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $134.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68. The company has a market capitalization of $464.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.01.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.23 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 171.38% and a net margin of 20.40%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.95 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Edward Screven sold 426,861 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total value of $60,575,844.51. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,626,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $372,764,079.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Oracle news, insider Edward Screven sold 426,861 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total transaction of $60,575,844.51. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,626,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $372,764,079.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $1,042,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,889 shares in the company, valued at $7,076,685. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,573,181 shares of company stock worth $225,338,245. Corporate insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Contour Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 41.5% during the 4th quarter. Contour Asset Management LLC now owns 2,192,950 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $231,203,000 after buying an additional 643,490 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 29,301 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,089,000 after buying an additional 3,291 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its holdings in Oracle by 15.3% in the second quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 24,800 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,502,000 after buying an additional 3,300 shares during the last quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 25.0% in the 1st quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,492 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $941,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Oracle by 55.7% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 22,315 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,151,000 after purchasing an additional 7,982 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

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.