Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Stock Price Up 12.3% on Earnings Beat

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) rose 12.3% during mid-day trading on Tuesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The company traded as high as $160.52 and last traded at $157.11. Approximately 19,839,783 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 142% from the average daily volume of 8,184,971 shares. The stock had previously closed at $139.89.

The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. Oracle had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 223.01%. The company had revenue of $13.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.02%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ORCL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $105.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $156.17.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, Chairman Lawrence Joseph Ellison sold 1,125,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.69, for a total transaction of $161,651,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,145,732,353 shares in the company, valued at $164,630,281,802.57. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Jeffrey Berg sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.12, for a total transaction of $3,220,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 210,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,157,101.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Lawrence Joseph Ellison sold 1,125,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.69, for a total transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,862,500 shares of company stock worth $266,776,624. Company insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ORCL. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Oracle by 153.3% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 11,947 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,260,000 after buying an additional 7,230 shares in the last quarter. Brio Consultants LLC increased its holdings in Oracle by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Brio Consultants LLC now owns 2,942 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $310,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC increased its holdings in Oracle by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 3,951 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $417,000 after buying an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. purchased a new position in Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at $359,000. Finally, Aveo Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at $290,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Up 12.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.25, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $138.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $128.82. The company has a market cap of $433.06 billion, a PE ratio of 42.35, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.01.

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.