Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Down 2.1%

Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) fell 2.1% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $166.08 and last traded at $166.76. 1,785,941 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 8,581,292 shares. The stock had previously closed at $170.40.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ORCL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Argus raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $145.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. JMP Securities raised shares of Oracle from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $167.42.

Oracle Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $465.27 billion, a PE ratio of 45.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $145.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $134.11. 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 released its earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. Oracle had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. The business had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.95 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Oracle’s payout ratio is 43.13%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Edward Screven sold 426,861 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total transaction of $60,575,844.51. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 2,626,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $372,764,079.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Oracle news, insider Edward Screven sold 426,861 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total value of $60,575,844.51. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 2,626,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $372,764,079.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $1,042,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,889 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,076,685. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,573,181 shares of company stock valued at $225,338,245. 42.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Contour Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 41.5% during the fourth quarter. Contour Asset Management LLC now owns 2,192,950 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $231,203,000 after purchasing an additional 643,490 shares in the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 12.7% during 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 in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 15.3% during the second quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 24,800 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,502,000 after purchasing an additional 3,300 shares in the last quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 25.0% during the first quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,492 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $941,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 55.7% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 22,315 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,151,000 after purchasing an additional 7,982 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.