Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Up 0.8%

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)’s stock price shot up 0.8% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $139.50 and last traded at $138.90. 1,098,891 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 8,467,970 shares. The stock had previously closed at $137.82.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ORCL shares. Argus upped their target price on Oracle from $145.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $145.83.

Oracle Trading Up 1.0 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $383.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.44, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a 50 day moving average of $134.75 and a 200-day moving average of $122.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.25.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.02). Oracle had a return on equity of 223.01% and a net margin of 19.76%. The business had revenue of $14.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.35 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 11th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 11th. Oracle’s payout ratio is presently 43.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In related news, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.30, for a total transaction of $34,042,967.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,626,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $379,042,045.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.30, for a total value of $34,042,967.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,626,764 shares in the company, valued at $379,042,045.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director George H. Conrades sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.13, for a total value of $2,903,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,836 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,071,294.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,952,500 shares of company stock valued at $277,298,174 in the last quarter. 42.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ORCL. Westend Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Tidemark LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Nordwand Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.