Investors Buy High Volume of Call Options on Oracle (NYSE:ORCL)

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) saw some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock traders acquired 127,864 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 98% compared to the typical daily volume of 64,598 call options.

Oracle Stock Performance

Oracle stock traded up $8.18 on Monday, hitting $170.21. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 19,911,430 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,528,000. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $139.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $130.16. The firm has a market cap of $469.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.01. Oracle has a one year low of $99.26 and a one year high of $173.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $13.31 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Oracle will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on ORCL. Argus lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $145.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Oracle from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on Oracle from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $163.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In related news, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.30, for a total transaction of $34,042,967.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,626,764 shares in the company, valued at $379,042,045.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Oracle news, Chairman Lawrence Joseph Ellison sold 1,125,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.69, for a total value of $161,651,250.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,145,732,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $164,630,281,802.57. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.30, for a total value of $34,042,967.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 2,626,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $379,042,045.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,862,500 shares of company stock valued at $266,776,624 in the last 90 days. 42.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Westend Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in Oracle in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Tidemark LLC acquired a new position in Oracle in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the second quarter valued at $30,000. 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.