Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Trading 2.2% Higher - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Oracle's stock price increased by 2.2%, reaching a last trading price of $249.77, with a significant decline in trading volume compared to its average session.
• Analysts have set a consensus target price of $218.29, with 23 analysts rating the stock as a "buy" and 9 as a "hold."
• Oracle reported strong earnings, with a $1.70 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding expectations and reflecting an 11.3% increase in revenue year-over-year.

Shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) traded up 2.2% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $252.76 and last traded at $249.77. 2,540,318 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 12,047,467 shares. The stock had previously closed at $244.42.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Evercore ISI upped 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. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Oracle from $210.00 to $180.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $218.29.

Oracle Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $707.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.02, a PEG ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 1.43. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $213.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $174.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07.

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, topping 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 net margin of 21.68% and a return on equity of 87.34%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Oracle Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 3,303 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.32, for a total transaction of $770,655.96. Following the sale, the director owned 31,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,337,214.04. The trade was a 9.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Maria Smith sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.99, for a total transaction of $2,329,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 40,807 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,507,622.93. This trade represents a 19.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 428,303 shares of company stock valued at $82,480,056 over the last quarter. 42.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ORCL. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle in the 1st quarter worth about $732,692,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Oracle by 15,012.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,755,096 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $664,810,000 after purchasing an additional 4,723,631 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Oracle by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,925,413 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $22,498,982,000 after purchasing an additional 3,513,464 shares during the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle in the 2nd quarter worth about $731,512,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Oracle by 20.5% in the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 2,350,448 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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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