Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Trading 0.7% Higher – Should You Buy?

Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) traded up 0.7% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $163.98 and last traded at $163.13. 7,579,158 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 14% from the average session volume of 6,675,989 shares. The stock had previously closed at $162.03.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. KeyCorp upped their price target on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. BNP Paribas upgraded Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.48.

Oracle Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $177.62 and a 200-day moving average of $160.73. 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 cap of $431.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.74, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.06.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.34 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 39.12%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oracle

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ORCL. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle during the second quarter worth about $40,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle during the third quarter worth about $44,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle during the third quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle during the third quarter worth about $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.