Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Trading Down 1% – Here’s What Happened

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)’s share price dropped 1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $145.08 and last traded at $146.36. Approximately 2,906,466 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 11,770,321 shares. The stock had previously closed at $147.80.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ORCL has been the subject of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Oracle from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. UBS Group restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $145.00 price target on Oracle and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Oracle from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Oracle from $194.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.20.

Oracle Stock Down 1.3 %

The stock has a market cap of $408.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $164.62 and its 200-day moving average is $170.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. Oracle’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.41 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 42.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Oracle by 89.7% in the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

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.