Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Stock Price Up 0.8% – Time to Buy?

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) shot up 0.8% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $175.85 and last traded at $175.09. 872,906 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 8,402,352 shares. The stock had previously closed at $173.76.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ORCL. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. KeyCorp raised their target price on Oracle from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective 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, JMP Securities boosted their target price on Oracle from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.67.

Oracle Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $157.11 and a 200-day moving average of $139.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $482.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.19, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 43.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other Oracle news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $1,042,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,889 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,076,685. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 42.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oracle

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ORCL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Oracle by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 151,213,890 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $18,993,977,000 after acquiring an additional 1,514,569 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Oracle by 0.4% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,466,713 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,319,604,000 after acquiring an additional 82,551 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Oracle by 2.3% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 13,242,340 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,869,816,000 after acquiring an additional 296,866 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Oracle by 148.8% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 12,872,300 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,616,855,000 after purchasing an additional 7,699,141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Oracle by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,318,962 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,033,430,000 after purchasing an additional 424,500 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.