Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Oracle Call Options (NYSE:ORCL)

Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors bought 160,947 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 79% compared to the typical volume of 90,070 call options.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of ORCL stock traded up $7.41 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $237.39. 18,441,376 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,140,491. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07. The firm has a market cap of $666.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 1.39. Oracle has a fifty-two week low of $118.86 and a fifty-two week high of $237.94. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $174.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $163.33.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.06. Oracle had a net margin of 21.68% and a return on equity of 87.34%. The business had revenue of $15.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.58 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.63 EPS. The business's revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Oracle will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. Oracle's payout ratio is currently 46.08%.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other Oracle news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 17,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.24, for a total value of $2,646,700.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 58,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,785,531.60. This trade represents a 23.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Jeffrey Henley sold 400,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.42, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 26.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 440,366 shares of company stock worth $83,103,603. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Oracle in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 284.9% during the first quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 204 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the period. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on ORCL shares. Guggenheim upped their price target on Oracle from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Loop Capital set a $135.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating and set a $240.00 target price (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Oracle from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Oracle has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $204.15.

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.