Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Trading Down 0.2% – Here’s Why

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)’s stock price fell 0.2% on Monday . The company traded as low as $173.76 and last traded at $174.38. 679,267 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 92% from the average session volume of 8,422,109 shares. The stock had previously closed at $174.69.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ORCL. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Barclays increased their price objective on Oracle from $160.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. JMP Securities upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.67.

Oracle Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68. The company has a market capitalization of $481.11 billion, a PE ratio of 44.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $156.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $138.67.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted 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 net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. The company had revenue of $13.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.24%.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other Oracle news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of Oracle 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $7,076,685. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 42.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Oracle in the second quarter worth $30,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the second quarter worth $35,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 2nd quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Alaska Permanent Fund Corp purchased a new position in Oracle during the 1st quarter worth $36,000. 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.