Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Down 1.2% - Time to Sell?

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report)'s share price traded down 1.2% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $174.28 and last traded at $174.95. 3,068,817 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 9,486,523 shares. The stock had previously closed at $177.15.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on ORCL shares. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Oracle from $180.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. UBS Group raised their target price on Oracle from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price target on Oracle from $214.00 to $175.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded Oracle from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $200.00 to $235.00 in a research report on Friday. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $194.32.

Oracle Trading Up 7.8%

The company's fifty day moving average is $151.06 and its 200-day moving average is $160.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $602.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.32.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $15.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.58 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The firm's revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Oracle's dividend payout ratio is currently 46.95%.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other Oracle news, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.81, for a total value of $291,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 34,630 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,049,400.30. This represents a 5.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 17,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.24, for a total transaction of $2,646,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 58,090 shares in the company, valued at $8,785,531.60. This represents a 23.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 27,366 shares of company stock worth $4,015,723 over the last three months. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Oracle by 201.7% in the fourth quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,599 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 1,069 shares during the period. Cornerstone Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 34.1% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC now owns 12,968 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $2,258,000 after acquiring an additional 3,299 shares during the period. Peak Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at about $211,000. AFT Forsyth & Company Inc. raised its position in Oracle by 32.7% in the fourth quarter. AFT Forsyth & Company Inc. now owns 6,739 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $1,123,000 after purchasing an additional 1,659 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Secure Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Oracle by 21.8% during the first quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 13,235 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $1,850,000 after purchasing an additional 2,365 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.