Oracle Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:ORCL)

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) saw some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors bought 161,141 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 107% compared to the average daily volume of 77,990 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on ORCL shares. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut shares of Oracle from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Oracle has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.73.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oracle

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 5.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $411,748,000 after acquiring an additional 121,874 shares during the last quarter. RMR Wealth Builders raised its position in Oracle by 383.4% in the 4th quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 7,155 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,192,000 after purchasing an additional 5,675 shares in the last quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp purchased a new position in shares of Oracle in the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,160,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Oracle by 79.6% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 286,460 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $48,813,000 after buying an additional 126,985 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 84.5% in the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 863,883 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $147,206,000 after purchasing an additional 395,613 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Oracle Price Performance

ORCL opened at $172.82 on Wednesday. Oracle has a 1 year low of $106.51 and a 1 year high of $198.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $483.37 billion, a PE ratio of 42.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $174.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $161.70.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The firm had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.34 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Oracle will post 5.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

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.