Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Up 1.6% – Time to Buy?

Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) rose 1.6% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $173.37 and last traded at $172.61. Approximately 2,108,361 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 8,527,178 shares. The stock had previously closed at $169.97.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on ORCL shares. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Oracle from $201.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Oracle from $140.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $167.42.

Oracle Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $479.78 billion, a PE ratio of 46.53, 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. The business’s 50 day moving average is $148.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $135.53.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $13.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.23 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 171.38% and a net margin of 20.40%. The company’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.13%.

Insider Transactions 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,076,685. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Chairman Lawrence Joseph Ellison sold 1,125,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.69, for a total value of $161,651,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 1,145,732,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $164,630,281,802.57. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,889 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,076,685. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,573,181 shares of company stock valued at $225,338,245 in the last three months. 42.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ORCL. Westend Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle in the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle in the second quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Alaska Permanent Fund Corp bought a new stake in shares of Oracle during the first quarter worth $36,000. 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.