Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Stock Price Up 1.4% – Here’s Why

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) shares traded up 1.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $159.15 and last traded at $158.56. 2,939,935 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 60% from the average session volume of 7,317,241 shares. The stock had previously closed at $156.31.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut shares of Oracle from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, December 20th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Oracle has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.48.

Oracle Price 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 firm has a market cap of $441.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.06. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $176.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $161.24.

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

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Oracle in the second quarter valued at $40,000. One Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Oracle by 124.8% in the second quarter. One Capital Management LLC now owns 9,629 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,360,000 after buying an additional 5,346 shares during the last quarter. Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Oracle by 8.9% in the second quarter. Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,683 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $520,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Excalibur Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 7.3% during the second quarter. Excalibur Management Corp now owns 9,051 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,278,000 after purchasing an additional 615 shares during the period. Finally, Alpha Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 6.2% during the second quarter. Alpha Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,954 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $276,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is currently 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.