Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Stock Price Down 1.5% – What’s Next?

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) was down 1.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $160.01 and last traded at $161.56. Approximately 3,151,666 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 14,882,369 shares. The stock had previously closed at $164.00.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on ORCL shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut shares of Oracle from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $157.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $182.73.

Oracle Stock Down 0.3 %

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 company has a market capitalization of $475.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.06. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $172.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $163.08.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.34 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 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 issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total transaction of $389,448,893.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oracle

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Activest Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Oracle by 21.9% during the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 312 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Second Line Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Oracle by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 3,816 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $650,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Cadence Bank grew its position in shares of Oracle by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 7,605 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,296,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Oracle by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC now owns 2,240 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $373,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McLean Asset Management Corp grew its position in shares of Oracle by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 5,447 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $908,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.