Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Stock Price Up 4.5% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) shot up 4.5% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $171.44 and last traded at $169.32. 5,883,027 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 60% from the average session volume of 14,729,106 shares. The stock had previously closed at $162.02.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on ORCL. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. BNP Paribas raised shares of Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut shares of Oracle from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, December 20th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.73.

Oracle Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $475.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.06. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $171.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $163.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released 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). The company had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.34 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total value of $389,448,893.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oracle

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC raised its stake 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. TFC Financial Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 129.0% in the fourth quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 213 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the third quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.