Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Up 0.7% – Time to Buy?

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) rose 0.7% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $163.98 and last traded at $163.13. Approximately 7,579,158 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 14% from the average daily volume of 6,675,989 shares. The stock had previously closed at $162.03.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ORCL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Melius Research upgraded Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. StockNews.com cut Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Oracle from $157.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. BNP Paribas raised Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Oracle from $201.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.48.

Oracle Stock Up 0.7 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $178.02 and a 200 day moving average of $160.61. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $456.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.89, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.06.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 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 analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.34 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. Oracle’s payout ratio is 39.12%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the second quarter worth approximately $40,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the third quarter worth approximately $44,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the third quarter worth approximately $51,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the third quarter worth approximately $51,000. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Company Profile

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.