Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $167.81, but opened at $173.57. Oracle shares last traded at $166.60, with a volume of 3,107,307 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.73.

Oracle Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $168.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $168.12. The company has a market capitalization of $477.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The business’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.34 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.12%.

Insider Activity

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total value of $64,050,487.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,565,931.52. The trade was a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Oracle by 89.7% in the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.