Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Trading 2.3% Higher – Time to Buy?

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) was up 2.3% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $163.09 and last traded at $161.93. Approximately 8,315,234 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 44% from the average daily volume of 14,816,256 shares. The stock had previously closed at $158.28.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ORCL shares. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Guggenheim increased their price target on Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Oracle currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.73.

Oracle Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $476.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 1.06. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $172.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $163.03.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. Oracle’s payout ratio is presently 39.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total transaction of $389,448,893.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,331,027.20. This trade represents a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 89.7% in the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 129.0% during the 4th quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 213 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Oracle during the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle in the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. 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.