Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Stock Price Down 1.2% Following Insider Selling

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) traded down 1.2% during mid-day trading on Friday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $183.43 and last traded at $184.24. 4,085,595 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 12,920,499 shares. The stock had previously closed at $186.47.

Specifically, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total transaction of $389,448,893.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,331,027.20. The trade was a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total value of $64,050,487.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,565,931.52. This represents a 23.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on ORCL. StockNews.com downgraded Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $201.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.73.

Oracle Price Performance

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

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.34 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Oracle by 89.7% during the 4th 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 Oracle in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the third quarter worth $51,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by 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.