Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) shares gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $167.81, but opened at $173.57. Oracle shares last traded at $166.60, with a volume of 3,107,307 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on ORCL shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded Oracle from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Oracle from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Oracle to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.73.

Oracle Trading Up 1.6 %

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $168.99 and a 200-day moving average of $167.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a market cap of $476.92 billion, a PE ratio of 41.67, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.05.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.34 earnings per share. Oracle’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is 39.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total value of $64,050,487.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,565,931.52. The trade was a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Oracle in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Oracle by 89.7% during the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new position in Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. 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.