Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Stock Price Up 0.6% – Time to Buy?

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)’s stock price rose 0.6% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $176.29 and last traded at $175.49. Approximately 941,976 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 8,347,717 shares. The stock had previously closed at $174.38.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ORCL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $165.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.52.

Oracle Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $483.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $159.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $139.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $13.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.23 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. The company’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.95 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were given 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 was Thursday, October 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is 41.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $1,042,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,076,685. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Diversify Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Oracle by 21.7% during the third quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 21,272 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,729,000 after buying an additional 3,794 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its stake in Oracle by 39.2% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 888 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $151,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Oracle by 837.7% during the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 23,948 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $4,081,000 after buying an additional 21,394 shares in the last quarter. abrdn plc grew its stake in Oracle by 0.6% during the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 924,397 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $154,892,000 after buying an additional 5,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in Oracle by 2.0% during the third quarter. Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,141 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,046,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.