Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Up 0% – What’s Next?

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)’s share price traded up 0% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $186.49 and last traded at $184.28. 6,182,294 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 51% from the average session volume of 12,735,546 shares. The stock had previously closed at $184.22.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on ORCL. KeyCorp upped their price target on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Oracle currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.73.

Oracle Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $513.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.89, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 1.06. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $174.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $162.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.34 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 39.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total transaction of $64,050,487.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,565,931.52. This trade represents a 23.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 89.7% in the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the third quarter worth approximately $44,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Oracle in the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in Oracle during the 3rd quarter worth $51,000. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.