Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Down 1.1% – Here’s What Happened

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)’s share price dropped 1.1% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $167.17 and last traded at $167.73. Approximately 1,132,467 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 8,402,651 shares. The stock had previously closed at $169.66.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on ORCL shares. Sanford C. Bernstein increased 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. Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded shares of Oracle from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.48.

Oracle Stock Up 1.3 %

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $179.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $158.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $479.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.91, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.03.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The business’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.34 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5.03 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 9th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.12%.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. Financial Advocates Investment Management raised its stake in Oracle by 27.5% in the second quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 5,256 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $742,000 after buying an additional 1,134 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors lifted its holdings in Oracle by 55.4% during the 2nd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 12,582 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,777,000 after purchasing an additional 4,488 shares during the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new position in Oracle during the second quarter worth $77,000. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. boosted its position in Oracle by 18.1% during the second quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 3,936 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $556,000 after purchasing an additional 604 shares during the period. Finally, Tobam increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 5.5% in the second quarter. Tobam now owns 55,329 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $7,812,000 after purchasing an additional 2,898 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.