Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Trading Down 0.8% – Should You Sell?

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) dropped 0.8% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $174.25 and last traded at $174.70. Approximately 1,505,950 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 8,481,448 shares. The stock had previously closed at $176.12.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ORCL has been the subject of several recent research reports. JMP Securities raised Oracle from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. StockNews.com raised Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Oracle from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Oracle from $160.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Oracle from $140.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $167.42.

Oracle Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68. The stock has a market cap of $484.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.27, a PEG ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $154.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $137.88.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued 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 return on equity of 171.38% and a net margin of 20.40%. The firm had revenue of $13.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.13%.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,076,685. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 42.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oracle

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ORCL. Westend Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Alaska Permanent Fund Corp acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. 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.