Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Trading Down 6.3% - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• Oracle's stock fell 6.3% to $225.21, with a trading volume 59% lower than its average session volume.
• Three analysts rated Oracle as a Strong Buy and twenty-three issued a Buy rating, with an average target price of $227.04.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50, leading to an annualized dividend yield of 0.9%.

Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report)'s stock price fell 6.3% on Friday . The company traded as low as $225.02 and last traded at $225.21. 4,862,253 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 59% from the average session volume of 11,813,133 shares. The stock had previously closed at $240.32.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ORCL. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Westpark Capital boosted their target price on Oracle from $195.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Loop Capital set a $135.00 target price on Oracle in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on Oracle from $240.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Oracle from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Oracle currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $227.04.

Oracle Stock Down 6.6%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $630.57 billion, a PE ratio of 51.69, a PEG ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $237.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $184.51.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 firm had revenue of $15.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.58 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 87.34% and a net margin of 21.68%.The business's revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Oracle Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. Oracle's dividend payout ratio is presently 46.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Clayton M. Magouyrk sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.10, for a total value of $3,211,500.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 60,722 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,000,580.20. This represents a 19.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Rona Alison Fairhead bought 480 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $233.87 per share, for a total transaction of $112,257.60. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 22,110 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,170,865.70. The trade was a 2.22% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 444,183 shares of company stock valued at $86,521,198 over the last 90 days. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oracle

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 3,353,461 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Oracle by 1.7% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,459,391 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $16,060,427,000 after acquiring an additional 1,252,723 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Oracle by 0.6% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 19,741,423 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $2,760,048,000 after acquiring an additional 120,889 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Oracle in the second quarter valued at about $4,275,378,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in Oracle by 0.4% in 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 valued at $1,941,195,000 after acquiring an additional 59,164 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.

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