Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Stock Price Down 1.5% – What’s Next?

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) was down 1.5% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $172.60 and last traded at $173.39. Approximately 2,280,848 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 11,902,625 shares. The stock had previously closed at $176.00.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on ORCL shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Guggenheim upped their price target on Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $182.73.

Oracle Trading Down 4.6 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $469.66 billion, a PE ratio of 41.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $168.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $167.29. 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 data on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.34 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.12%.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total value of $64,050,487.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,565,931.52. This represents a 23.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ORCL. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 89.7% in the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 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.