Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume on Analyst Upgrade

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Monday after Melius Research upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a buy rating. Approximately 4,783,293 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 43% from the previous session’s volume of 8,443,011 shares.The stock last traded at $168.45 and had previously closed at $162.03.

ORCL has been the topic of several other reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Oracle from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Oracle from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Melius raised Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday. JMP Securities raised shares of Oracle from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $163.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In related news, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.30, for a total transaction of $34,042,967.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 2,626,764 shares in the company, valued at $379,042,045.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.30, for a total value of $34,042,967.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,626,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $379,042,045.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Lawrence Joseph Ellison sold 1,125,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.69, for a total value of $161,651,250.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,145,732,353 shares in the company, valued at $164,630,281,802.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,862,500 shares of company stock worth $266,776,624 over the last quarter. 42.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Westend Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Oracle in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Tidemark LLC acquired a new position in Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new position in Oracle during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle during the second quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $472.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.92, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $140.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $130.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Oracle had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. The firm had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.95 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5.06 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.13%.

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.