Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Up 2.3% – Still a Buy?

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) shares traded up 2.3% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $163.09 and last traded at $161.93. 8,315,234 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 44% from the average session volume of 14,816,256 shares. The stock had previously closed at $158.28.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut Oracle from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.73.

Oracle Trading Up 3.7 %

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $173.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $162.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $459.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 1.06.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.34 EPS. Oracle’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total value of $64,050,487.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,565,931.52. This represents a 23.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ORCL. LJI Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. LJI Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,049 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $841,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 25.3% in the fourth quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 3,206 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $507,000 after acquiring an additional 648 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 166.1% in the fourth quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 13,147 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,191,000 after acquiring an additional 8,207 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 74,349 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $12,389,000 after acquiring an additional 4,663 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV now owns 2,516 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $419,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.