Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Down 0.2% – Should You Sell?

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) shares dropped 0.2% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $165.93 and last traded at $166.57. Approximately 604,299 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 93% from the average daily volume of 8,323,898 shares. The stock had previously closed at $166.91.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ORCL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Oracle from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.48.

Oracle Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $466.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s 50 day moving average is $179.37 and its 200-day moving average is $159.42.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5.03 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.96%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.12%.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle in the third quarter valued at approximately $217,000. SMART Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Oracle in the third quarter worth $786,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its stake in Oracle by 84.5% in the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 863,883 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $147,206,000 after purchasing an additional 395,613 shares during the period. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS increased its position in shares of Oracle by 125.7% during the 3rd quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS now owns 3,879 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $661,000 after purchasing an additional 2,160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DGS Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 6,486 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,105,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

About Oracle

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.