Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Stock Price Up 1.6% – What’s Next?

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) shares were up 1.6% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $185.93 and last traded at $185.55. Approximately 1,754,204 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 8,233,119 shares. The stock had previously closed at $182.70.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on ORCL shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Melius upgraded Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $169.52.

Oracle Trading Up 1.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The company has a market capitalization of $512.20 billion, a PE ratio of 47.82, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $177.10 and a 200 day moving average of $151.11.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $13.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the firm earned $0.95 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.24%.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the company’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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,889 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,076,685. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oracle

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in Oracle by 182.5% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 389,754 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $48,957,000 after acquiring an additional 251,767 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Oracle by 165.2% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 114,924 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $14,436,000 after purchasing an additional 71,588 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 2.4% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 205,117 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $25,765,000 after buying an additional 4,872 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the first quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Finally, Objective Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle in the first quarter worth approximately $248,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.