Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Down 1%

Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) traded down 1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $163.92 and last traded at $164.32. 1,329,316 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 8,596,849 shares. The stock had previously closed at $165.95.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. JMP Securities upgraded shares of Oracle from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Oracle from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Oracle from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a 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, Oracle has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $166.13.

Oracle Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $456.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $142.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $132.46.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $13.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.95 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.13%.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other Oracle news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,889 shares in the company, valued at $7,076,685. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,076,685. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,010,030.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,610,402 shares of company stock valued at $230,556,257 over the last 90 days. 42.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oracle

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 151,213,890 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $18,993,977,000 after purchasing an additional 1,514,569 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 0.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its stake in Oracle by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 14,599,902 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,539,268,000 after buying an additional 2,191,342 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in Oracle by 2.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake 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. Institutional investors 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.