Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Up 0.3%

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)’s stock price was up 0.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $125.80 and last traded at $125.65. Approximately 1,106,144 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 9,121,214 shares. The stock had previously closed at $125.27.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ORCL. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 12th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Argus upgraded shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. HSBC boosted their price objective on Oracle from $144.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research reduced their target price on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 12th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Oracle currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.76.

Oracle Stock Up 0.2 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.34. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $116.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $111.47. The company has a market capitalization of $345.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.00.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its earnings results on Monday, March 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.04. Oracle had a return on equity of 336.11% and a net margin of 20.27%. The company had revenue of $13.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.29 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.96 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is 42.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total value of $99,966,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $141,546,631.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 42.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 298.4% during the third quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 243 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management bought a new position in Oracle in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Tidemark LLC bought a new stake in Oracle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.