Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Hits New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $193.21 and last traded at $193.21, with a volume of 29033 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $190.75.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ORCL shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Oracle from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Oracle from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Bank of America raised their price target on Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Oracle from $160.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their target price on Oracle from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.52.

Oracle Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $175.62 and a 200-day moving average of $149.20. The firm has a market cap of $532.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted 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 return on equity of 171.38% and a net margin of 20.40%. The firm had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.23 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.95 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.24%.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $1,042,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,889 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,076,685. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted 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 in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 131.2% in the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,911,201 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $552,262,000 after buying an additional 2,219,450 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 97.4% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,242,647 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $532,920,000 after purchasing an additional 2,093,893 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 16,023.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,065,083 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $351,890,000 after purchasing an additional 2,052,275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $12,003,241,000 after purchasing an additional 1,847,561 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.