Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Trading Down 0.2% – Time to Sell?

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) dropped 0.2% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $172.47 and last traded at $173.12. Approximately 839,444 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 90% from the average daily volume of 8,324,757 shares. The stock had previously closed at $173.52.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ORCL shares. JMP Securities lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Melius Research raised shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $165.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Oracle from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Melius raised Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.52.

Oracle Stock Down 0.4 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $160.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $140.45. The company has a market capitalization of $478.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 1.01.

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

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $1,042,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares in the company, valued at $7,076,685. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Oracle by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 151,213,890 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $18,993,977,000 after acquiring an additional 1,514,569 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,466,713 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,319,604,000 after buying an additional 82,551 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 13,242,340 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,869,816,000 after buying an additional 296,866 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 148.8% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 12,872,300 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,616,855,000 after buying an additional 7,699,141 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,318,962 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,033,430,000 after buying an additional 424,500 shares during the period. 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.