Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Sets New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) shares hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $174.89 and last traded at $174.88, with a volume of 318145 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $174.37.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Oracle from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com raised Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Melius raised Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $201.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $167.42.

Oracle Trading Up 1.0 %

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $149.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $135.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $488.23 billion, a PE ratio of 47.02, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 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 quarterly earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $13.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.23 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.95 EPS. Oracle’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 43.13%.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other Oracle news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $1,042,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,076,685. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Oracle news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $1,042,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,076,685. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.89, for a total value of $2,068,350.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 58,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,010,030.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,146,320 shares of company stock valued at $164,762,400. Corporate insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Oracle by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 151,213,890 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $18,993,977,000 after acquiring an additional 1,514,569 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Oracle by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,466,713 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,319,604,000 after purchasing an additional 82,551 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in Oracle by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 13,242,340 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,869,816,000 after buying an additional 296,866 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in Oracle by 148.8% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 12,872,300 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,616,855,000 after buying an additional 7,699,141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Putnam Investments LLC boosted its stake in Oracle by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 12,339,385 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,300,941,000 after buying an additional 697,961 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.