Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Stock Price Up 1%

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)’s share price rose 1% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $167.70 and last traded at $166.20. Approximately 2,766,795 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average daily volume of 8,577,352 shares. The stock had previously closed at $164.53.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on ORCL shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Oracle from $160.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Mizuho increased their price target on Oracle from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Oracle from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Oracle from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Oracle presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $163.88.

Oracle Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $460.56 billion, a PE ratio of 44.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.01. 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’s 50 day moving average price is $141.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $131.19.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $13.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.95 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In related news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $1,042,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,076,685. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Edward Screven sold 426,861 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now owns 2,626,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $372,764,079.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,076,685. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,610,402 shares of company stock valued at $230,556,257. Corporate insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ORCL. Contour Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 41.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 643,490 shares during the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp lifted its holdings in Oracle by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 29,301 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,089,000 after purchasing an additional 3,291 shares during the last quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors lifted its stake in Oracle by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 16,995 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,792,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 25.0% during the 1st quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,492 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $941,000 after acquiring an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position 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 buying an additional 7,982 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.