Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Stock Price Up 0.8% – Time to Buy?

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) shares were up 0.8% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $168.05 and last traded at $167.61. Approximately 2,052,821 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 53% from the average daily volume of 4,357,997 shares. The stock had previously closed at $166.32.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on ORCL shares. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut shares of Oracle from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.48.

Oracle Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $462.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.06. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $178.62 and its 200 day moving average is $160.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65.

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 return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The business had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.34 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.12%.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $12,003,241,000 after acquiring an additional 1,847,561 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Oracle by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,194,683 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $5,977,015,000 after purchasing an additional 885,041 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Oracle by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,370,640,000 after purchasing an additional 1,917,416 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Oracle by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 17,898,029 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,049,824,000 after purchasing an additional 310,709 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in Oracle by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,608,951 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,489,345,000 after purchasing an additional 54,868 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

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.