Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Down 4.7% – Should You Sell?

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)’s stock price fell 4.7% on Monday . The company traded as low as $122.93 and last traded at $122.61. 2,571,770 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 11,841,410 shares. The stock had previously closed at $128.62.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ORCL shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Oracle from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Westpark Capital initiated coverage on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $195.00 price target on the stock. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Oracle from $212.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. DA Davidson cut their target price on Oracle from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Oracle from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.73.

Oracle Price Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $150.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $166.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $339.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.22.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.02). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The firm had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.40 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.41 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.95%.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.77, for a total transaction of $648,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,538,339.30. The trade was a 7.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.81, for a total transaction of $291,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 34,630 shares in the company, valued at $5,049,400.30. This represents a 5.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,453,328 shares of company stock worth $454,439,851 over the last quarter. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,216,314,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $930,095,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Oracle by 15,012.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,755,096 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $664,810,000 after acquiring an additional 4,723,631 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 20.5% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 13,825,360 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,303,858,000 after acquiring an additional 2,350,448 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Oracle by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 157,411,949 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $26,231,127,000 after acquiring an additional 2,296,069 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.