Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Trading Up 0.2% - Should You Buy?

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) shares traded up 0.2% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $170.36 and last traded at $169.98. 1,414,418 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 8,379,934 shares. The stock had previously closed at $169.71.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on ORCL shares. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective 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. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Oracle has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $183.63.

Oracle Stock Down 2.5 %

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $180.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $156.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $462.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.44, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.03.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The company had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.34 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 9th. Oracle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.12%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ORCL. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 16,023.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,065,083 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $351,890,000 after purchasing an additional 2,052,275 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Oracle by 11.6% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $3,370,640,000 after buying an additional 1,917,416 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 5,853.1% in the second quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 1,552,580 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $219,224,000 after acquiring an additional 1,526,500 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Oracle by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,194,683 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $5,977,015,000 after acquiring an additional 885,041 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.