Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Trading 1.7% Higher - Here's Why

Key Points

• Oracle's share price increased by 1.7%, closing at $254.22, with a notable decline in trading volume compared to its average.
• Analyst upgrades include UBS raising the target price from $250 to $280 and Evercore ISI upgrading from $215 to $270, contributing to a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".
• Oracle recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 0.8%, with insiders also selling significant amounts of stock in recent transactions.

Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report)'s share price rose 1.7% on Monday . The company traded as high as $254.15 and last traded at $254.22. Approximately 2,884,839 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 11,979,950 shares. The stock had previously closed at $250.05.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on ORCL shares. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Oracle from $215.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $210.00 to $180.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $222.75.

Oracle Stock Up 1.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $222.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $177.75. The company has a market cap of $710.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 1.43.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.06. The firm 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 87.34% and a net margin of 21.68%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Oracle Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Oracle's dividend payout ratio is 46.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Oracle news, insider Michael D. Sicilia sold 15,880 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.48, for a total value of $4,041,142.40. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 99,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,247,469.76. This trade represents a 13.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Jeffrey Henley sold 400,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.42, for a total value of $76,168,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 1,097,576 shares in the company, valued at $209,000,421.92. This represents a 26.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 444,183 shares of company stock worth $86,521,198 in the last 90 days. 42.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ORCL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 2.1% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 164,278,874 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $35,916,290,000 after buying an additional 3,353,461 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Oracle by 0.6% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 19,741,423 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $2,760,048,000 after purchasing an additional 120,889 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in Oracle by 0.4% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 13,884,524 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $1,941,195,000 after purchasing an additional 59,164 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 20.5% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 13,825,360 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $2,303,858,000 after buying an additional 2,350,448 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 3.3% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 12,736,855 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $1,749,280,000 after buying an additional 409,691 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.

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