Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Stock Price Up 1.5% – Should You Buy?

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)’s share price traded up 1.5% on Monday . The company traded as high as $156.61 and last traded at $154.51. 1,881,535 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 8,489,797 shares. The stock had previously closed at $152.23.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ORCL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. BNP Paribas raised Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Oracle from $210.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Oracle presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.20.

Oracle Price Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average of $164.87 and a 200 day moving average of $170.27. 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 stock has a market cap of $432.13 billion, a PE ratio of 37.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.40 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.41 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This is a positive change from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is 46.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 transaction of $64,050,487.44. Following the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Oracle in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Oracle by 89.7% during the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new position in Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Oracle during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.