Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Trading 0.4% Higher – Should You Buy?

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) shares rose 0.4% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $173.84 and last traded at $172.99. Approximately 1,623,118 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 12,465,440 shares. The stock had previously closed at $172.22.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ORCL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. DA Davidson raised their target price on Oracle from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. BNP Paribas raised Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Oracle has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.73.

Oracle Stock Up 0.6 %

The firm has a market cap of $484.54 billion, a PE ratio of 42.32, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $169.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $165.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

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). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The company had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.34 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors 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 yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total transaction of $389,448,893.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. This trade represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 42.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wealth Group Ltd. purchased a new stake in Oracle in the third quarter valued at approximately $222,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in Oracle by 157.0% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 4,587 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $782,000 after buying an additional 2,802 shares during the period. Creative Planning grew its stake in Oracle by 4.1% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 774,912 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $132,045,000 after buying an additional 30,341 shares during the period. EdgeRock Capital LLC grew its stake in Oracle by 287.4% during the third quarter. EdgeRock Capital LLC now owns 2,673 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $456,000 after buying an additional 1,983 shares during the period. Finally, Braun Bostich & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Oracle during the third quarter worth approximately $203,000. 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.