Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Trading 3.6% Higher - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Oracle Corporation's stock increased by 3.6% to a price of $259.53, with a total trading volume of approximately 5.7 million shares, significantly below the average daily volume.
• Several brokerages have raised their price targets for Oracle, with Piper Sandler upgrading it to $270.00 and Scotiabank setting a new target of $300.00, indicating strong positive sentiment from analysts.
• The company reported a 21.68% net margin with earnings per share of $1.70, beating estimates, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 with a yield of 0.8%.

Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) shares shot up 3.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $259.78 and last traded at $259.53. 5,698,810 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 53% from the average session volume of 12,036,789 shares. The stock had previously closed at $250.60.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ORCL. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Oracle from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Westpark Capital increased their price objective on Oracle from $195.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Piper Sandler raised Oracle from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $190.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $195.00 target price (up previously from $145.00) on shares of Oracle in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $218.29.

Oracle Trading Down 2.9%

The stock has a market capitalization of $692.03 billion, a PE ratio of 56.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $211.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $174.13.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 earnings per share 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 87.34% and a net margin of 21.68%. Oracle's quarterly revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.63 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Oracle Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. 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%.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other Oracle news, Director Rona Alison Fairhead purchased 480 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $233.87 per share, with a total value of $112,257.60. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 22,110 shares in the company, valued at $5,170,865.70. The trade was a 2.22% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Clayton M. Magouyrk sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $13,000,580.20. This represents a 19.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 431,169 shares of company stock valued at $82,908,609 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oracle

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ORCL. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 71.6% in the first quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 257,378 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $35,984,000 after purchasing an additional 107,404 shares during the last quarter. Rockland Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 4.8% during the first quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 10,165 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $1,421,000 after buying an additional 467 shares during the period. Calamos Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 1.5% during the first quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 711,290 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $99,445,000 after buying an additional 10,426 shares during the period. Cornerstone Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 34.1% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC now owns 12,968 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $2,258,000 after buying an additional 3,299 shares during the period. Finally, Peak Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $211,000. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.