Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Trading Up 1.9% – Here’s Why

Shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) rose 1.9% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $238.22 and last traded at $237.70. Approximately 2,767,785 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 11,914,771 shares. The stock had previously closed at $233.16.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ORCL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $220.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $215.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. CIBC reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Monday, June 9th. JMP Securities boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $240.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $227.04.

Oracle Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $235.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $182.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07. The company has a market cap of $663.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.42, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.43.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.06. Oracle had a net margin of 21.68% and a return on equity of 87.34%. The company had revenue of $15.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Oracle Corporation will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Maria Smith sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.99, for a total transaction of $2,329,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 40,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,507,622.93. This represents a 19.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Clayton M. Magouyrk sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.10, for a total transaction of $3,211,500.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 60,722 shares in the company, valued at $13,000,580.20. This represents a 19.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 444,183 shares of company stock valued at $86,521,198 over the last three months. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 189.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 153,580 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $25,593,000 after buying an additional 100,494 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,418 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $903,000 after buying an additional 404 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 71,281 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $11,878,000 after buying an additional 299 shares during the period. Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co. LLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 193.3% during the fourth quarter. Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co. LLC now owns 82,558 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $13,757,000 after buying an additional 54,411 shares during the period. Finally, Virtus ETF Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC now owns 6,668 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,111,000 after buying an additional 299 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.