Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Up 0.1% - Should You Buy?

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) was up 0.1% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $190.90 and last traded at $189.09. Approximately 955,425 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 8,213,696 shares. The stock had previously closed at $188.90.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ORCL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Oracle from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of Oracle from $201.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. UBS Group reiterated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Friday, October 18th. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on Oracle from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $169.52.

Oracle Price Performance

The company's 50-day simple moving average is $173.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $148.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $524.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.02.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. Oracle had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. The firm had revenue of $13.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.95 EPS. The business's revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Oracle's payout ratio is 41.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Oracle news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $1,042,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,889 shares in the company, valued at $7,076,685. This represents a 12.84 % 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. 42.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $12,003,241,000 after acquiring an additional 1,847,561 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 2.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,194,683 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $5,977,015,000 after purchasing an additional 885,041 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 0.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 82,551 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.8% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 17,898,029 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $3,049,824,000 after buying an additional 310,709 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in Oracle by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,608,951 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $2,489,345,000 after buying an additional 54,868 shares during 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.

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