Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Trading Down 0% - Time to Sell?

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report)'s stock price fell 0% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $174.88 and last traded at $175.64. 978,299 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 8,440,525 shares. The stock had previously closed at $175.68.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on ORCL. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $105.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Oppenheimer reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Oracle currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $168.67.

Oracle Price Performance

The business's 50-day simple moving average is $155.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $138.15. The stock has a market cap of $481.50 billion, a PE ratio of 47.20, a PEG ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.06. Oracle had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. The company had revenue of $13.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $13.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.95 earnings per share. Oracle's quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Oracle's dividend payout ratio is currently 43.13%.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other Oracle news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $1,042,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,076,685. This represents a 0.00 % 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 this link. 42.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oracle

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Oracle by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 151,213,890 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $18,993,977,000 after purchasing an additional 1,514,569 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 0.4% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,466,713 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $2,319,604,000 after buying an additional 82,551 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 2.3% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 13,242,340 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $1,869,816,000 after buying an additional 296,866 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 148.8% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 12,872,300 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $1,616,855,000 after buying an additional 7,699,141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 6.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,318,962 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $1,033,430,000 after buying an additional 424,500 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.