Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Stock Price Up 2.7% – What’s Next?

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)’s share price rose 2.7% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $178.84 and last traded at $178.86. Approximately 2,795,956 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 12,138,278 shares. The stock had previously closed at $174.16.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on ORCL shares. StockNews.com upgraded Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Oracle presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.73.

Oracle Stock Up 3.2 %

The company has a market cap of $502.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.05. 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 simple moving average of $168.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $166.24.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The company had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.34 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total value of $389,448,893.90. 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 $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ORCL. Wealth Group Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Oracle during the 3rd quarter worth $222,000. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 8,019 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,366,000 after purchasing an additional 883 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Oracle by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,250 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,917,000 after purchasing an additional 396 shares in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC raised its holdings in Oracle by 127.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 26,229 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $4,469,000 after buying an additional 14,675 shares during the period. Finally, Penn Davis Mcfarland Inc. purchased a new stake in Oracle during the third quarter valued at about $220,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently 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.