Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Trading Up 1.1%

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)’s stock price shot up 1.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $142.66 and last traded at $142.35. 1,195,893 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 7,994,521 shares. The stock had previously closed at $140.75.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ORCL has been the subject of several recent research reports. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. StockNews.com cut shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $145.83.

Oracle Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $390.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $138.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $128.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.25.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.02). Oracle had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 223.01%. The firm had revenue of $14.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.35 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 11th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 11th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.13%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.13%.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In related news, Director Jeffrey Berg sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.12, for a total value of $3,220,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 210,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,157,101.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Oracle news, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.30, for a total value of $34,042,967.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,626,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $379,042,045.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jeffrey Berg sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.12, for a total transaction of $3,220,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 210,712 shares in the company, valued at $30,157,101.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,862,500 shares of company stock worth $266,776,624. Insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 151,213,890 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $18,993,977,000 after purchasing an additional 1,514,569 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Oracle by 0.4% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,466,713 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,319,604,000 after acquiring an additional 82,551 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its stake in Oracle by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 14,599,902 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,539,268,000 after acquiring an additional 2,191,342 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Oracle by 2.3% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 13,242,340 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,869,816,000 after acquiring an additional 296,866 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Oracle by 148.8% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 12,872,300 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,616,855,000 after acquiring an additional 7,699,141 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.