Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $167.81, but opened at $173.57. Oracle shares last traded at $166.60, with a volume of 3,107,307 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ORCL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup upped their target price on Oracle from $157.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered Oracle to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Oracle currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.73.

Oracle Stock Up 1.6 %

The company has a market cap of $476.92 billion, a PE ratio of 41.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $168.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $167.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.34 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.12%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total value of $64,050,487.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 5.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $411,748,000 after acquiring an additional 121,874 shares in the last quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 201.7% in the fourth quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,599 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 1,069 shares during the last quarter. RMR Wealth Builders increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 383.4% in the fourth quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 7,155 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,192,000 after purchasing an additional 5,675 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 24.8% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 164,593 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $27,428,000 after purchasing an additional 32,718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,800,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.