Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Stock Price Down 0.9% – Time to Sell?

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) was down 0.9% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $128.44 and last traded at $128.56. Approximately 8,919,409 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 4% from the average daily volume of 9,309,665 shares. The stock had previously closed at $129.76.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ORCL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Oracle from $205.00 to $175.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Oracle from $210.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Oracle from $195.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Oracle from $212.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Westpark Capital assumed coverage on Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $195.00 target price on the stock. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.73.

Oracle Stock Down 0.9 %

The company has a market capitalization of $359.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.43, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $150.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $166.33.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.41 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. Oracle’s payout ratio is presently 46.95%.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other news, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.81, for a total transaction of $291,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 34,630 shares in the company, valued at $5,049,400.30. The trade was a 5.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total transaction of $64,050,487.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,565,931.52. The trade was a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,453,328 shares of company stock worth $454,439,851 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Oracle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Oracle by 89.7% in the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Oracle during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.