Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Sees Strong Trading Volume Following Analyst Upgrade

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Monday after Melius Research upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a buy rating. Approximately 4,783,293 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 43% from the previous session’s volume of 8,443,011 shares.The stock last traded at $168.45 and had previously closed at $162.03.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Oracle from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $163.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.30, for a total value of $34,042,967.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 2,626,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $379,042,045.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Oracle news, Chairman Lawrence Joseph Ellison sold 1,125,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.69, for a total transaction of $161,651,250.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,145,732,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $164,630,281,802.57. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.30, for a total transaction of $34,042,967.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 2,626,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $379,042,045.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,862,500 shares of company stock worth $266,776,624 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. Contour Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 41.5% in the 4th quarter. Contour Asset Management LLC now owns 2,192,950 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $231,203,000 after buying an additional 643,490 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp increased its position in Oracle by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 29,301 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,089,000 after purchasing an additional 3,291 shares during the period. Heritage Wealth Advisors lifted its position in Oracle by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 16,995 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,792,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Seven Mile Advisory boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 5,236 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $552,000 after purchasing an additional 502 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goelzer Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Oracle by 25.0% during the 1st quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,492 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $941,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $140.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $130.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $472.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.06. Oracle had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. The company had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.95 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 43.13%.

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.