Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Trading Down 1.2% – Time to Sell?

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) shares dropped 1.2% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $162.16 and last traded at $163.74. Approximately 1,968,151 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 60% from the average daily volume of 4,878,781 shares. The stock had previously closed at $165.69.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on ORCL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. UBS Group upped their target price on Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Oracle from $201.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Melius raised Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Melius Research upgraded Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Oracle currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.48.

Oracle Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $454.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.06. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $178.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $160.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The company had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.34 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. Oracle’s payout ratio is 39.12%.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ORCL. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Oracle by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $411,748,000 after acquiring an additional 121,874 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its stake in Oracle by 15.3% during the 2nd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 24,800 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,502,000 after buying an additional 3,300 shares during the period. Chase Investment Counsel Corp acquired a new stake in Oracle during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,160,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 79.6% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 286,460 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $48,813,000 after acquiring an additional 126,985 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 84.5% in the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 863,883 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $147,206,000 after acquiring an additional 395,613 shares in the last quarter. 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.