Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Stock Price Up 1.5% – Here’s What Happened

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)’s share price was up 1.5% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $156.61 and last traded at $154.51. Approximately 1,881,535 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 8,489,797 shares. The stock had previously closed at $152.23.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ORCL. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Oracle from $205.00 to $175.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.20.

Oracle Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $164.87 and a 200-day moving average of $170.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $432.13 billion, a PE ratio of 37.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.41 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This is an increase from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is 46.95%.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total transaction of $389,448,893.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. This trade represents a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ORCL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Oracle by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 157,411,949 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $26,231,127,000 after purchasing an additional 2,296,069 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 2.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $12,003,241,000 after buying an additional 1,847,561 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,002,902 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $6,332,803,000 after acquiring an additional 156,269 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,814,302 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $5,954,961,000 after acquiring an additional 619,619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,202,421 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,366,531,000 after acquiring an additional 1,722,037 shares in the last quarter. 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.