Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Oracle Call Options (NYSE:ORCL)

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors acquired 93,610 call options on the company. This is an increase of 53% compared to the average volume of 61,237 call options.

Oracle Price Performance

Oracle stock traded up $4.51 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $120.88. The company had a trading volume of 17,795,008 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,168,072. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $120.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $113.98. The company has a market cap of $332.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.34. Oracle has a fifty-two week low of $96.92 and a fifty-two week high of $132.77.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.04. Oracle had a return on equity of 336.11% and a net margin of 20.27%. The business had revenue of $13.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.96 EPS. Oracle's quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Oracle will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 9th. Oracle's payout ratio is 42.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ORCL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. HSBC raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $144.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Oracle from $126.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. KeyCorp started coverage on Oracle in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $150.00 price target on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $130.76.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total value of $99,966,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company's stock, valued at $141,546,631.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total value of $99,966,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $141,546,631.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Michael J. Boskin sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.74, for a total value of $5,298,300.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 87,473 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,299,071.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 880,000 shares of company stock valued at $110,488,150. Corporate insiders own 42.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ORCL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Oracle by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 151,213,890 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $18,993,977,000 after purchasing an additional 1,514,569 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 3.5% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 18,718,180 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $1,982,630,000 after purchasing an additional 635,994 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Oracle by 22.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,384,162 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $1,938,242,000 after purchasing an additional 3,323,334 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its stake in Oracle by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 14,599,902 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $1,539,268,000 after buying an additional 2,191,342 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Putnam Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 12,339,385 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $1,300,941,000 after buying an additional 697,961 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.