Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Stock Price Down 1.3% - What's Next?

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report)'s share price fell 1.3% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $175.70 and last traded at $177.40. 2,053,353 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 12,088,771 shares. The stock had previously closed at $179.80.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ORCL. Citigroup boosted their target price on Oracle from $157.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com lowered Oracle from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Evercore ISI boosted 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $182.73.

Oracle Trading Down 4.6 %

The firm has a market cap of $469.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $168.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $167.02.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.34 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. Oracle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total value of $64,050,487.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,565,931.52. This trade represents a 23.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oracle

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Oracle by 89.7% in the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. 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.