Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Stock Price Down 9.7% After Insider Selling

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)’s share price fell 9.7% on Monday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $166.13 and last traded at $165.72. 11,780,896 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 11% from the average session volume of 13,269,305 shares. The stock had previously closed at $183.60.

Specifically, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total value of $389,448,893.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,331,027.20. This trade represents a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total value of $64,050,487.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,565,931.52. The trade was a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ORCL. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. StockNews.com cut Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Oracle currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.73.

Oracle Trading Down 13.9 %

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $174.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $162.79. The firm has a market cap of $442.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65.

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

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.12%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oracle

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ORCL. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 59.0% during the fourth quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp now owns 4,962 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $827,000 after purchasing an additional 1,841 shares in the last quarter. McHugh Group LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth $1,180,000. Geneva Partners LLC boosted its position in Oracle by 111.6% during the 4th quarter. Geneva Partners LLC now owns 30,060 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $5,009,000 after acquiring an additional 15,853 shares in the last quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 6,787 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,131,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares during the period. Finally, Beacon Financial Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Oracle by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC now owns 4,388 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $731,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.