Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Trading Down 0.8%

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) shares were down 0.8% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $166.51 and last traded at $166.68. Approximately 1,434,705 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 8,568,555 shares. The stock had previously closed at $168.10.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ORCL shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $166.13.

Oracle Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average is $144.36 and its 200-day moving average is $133.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $465.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.93, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68.

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

Oracle Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.89, for a total transaction of $2,068,350.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,010,030.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Oracle news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.89, for a total value of $2,068,350.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,010,030.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Edward Screven sold 426,861 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,626,764 shares in the company, valued at $372,764,079.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,573,181 shares of company stock valued at $225,338,245 over the last ninety days. 42.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Westend Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle during the second quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. 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.