Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Stock Price Down 0.6% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) were down 0.6% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $152.50 and last traded at $153.60. Approximately 2,357,214 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 6,993,057 shares. The stock had previously closed at $154.50.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ORCL. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Melius Research raised shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.48.

Oracle Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company has a market capitalization of $428.91 billion, a PE ratio of 37.49, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a 50 day moving average of $177.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $161.04.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The business had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.12%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Oracle in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in Oracle by 412.8% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 257,573 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $36,369,000 after acquiring an additional 207,340 shares during the last quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC boosted its position in Oracle by 138.4% in the second quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 13,088 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,848,000 after purchasing an additional 7,597 shares during the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC boosted its position in Oracle by 1.3% in the second quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 19,346 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,732,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Williams Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,647,000. Institutional investors 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.