Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Trading Down 0.6% – Should You Sell?

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)’s share price was down 0.6% on Monday . The company traded as low as $152.50 and last traded at $153.60. Approximately 2,357,214 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 6,993,057 shares. The stock had previously closed at $154.50.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ORCL. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Melius upgraded Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.48.

Oracle Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $177.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $161.04. The stock has a market cap of $428.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.49, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.06.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced 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). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The company had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5.03 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 39.12%.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Oracle by 2.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $12,003,241,000 after purchasing an additional 1,847,561 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Oracle by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,194,683 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $5,977,015,000 after acquiring an additional 885,041 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 11.6% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,370,640,000 after acquiring an additional 1,917,416 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Oracle by 1.8% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 17,898,029 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,049,824,000 after purchasing an additional 310,709 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,608,951 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,489,345,000 after purchasing an additional 54,868 shares during the period. 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.