Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL – Get Free Report)’s share price dropped 9.7% during trading on Monday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $166.13 and last traded at $165.72. Approximately 11,780,896 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 11% from the average daily volume of 13,269,305 shares. The stock had previously closed at $183.60.
Specifically, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total transaction of $64,050,487.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,565,931.52. This represents a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several analysts recently weighed in on ORCL shares. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on Oracle from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Oracle from $201.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.73.
Oracle Stock Performance
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 firm has a market capitalization of $460.61 billion, a PE ratio of 40.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 1.06. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $174.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $162.79.
Oracle (NYSE:ORCL – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The firm had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.34 earnings per share. Oracle’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.12%.
Institutional Trading of Oracle
Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at $498,000. Stratos Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. Stratos Investment Management LLC now owns 6,011 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,002,000 after purchasing an additional 703 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 104,321 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $17,384,000 after purchasing an additional 2,408 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its holdings in Oracle by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 835,464 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $139,222,000 after purchasing an additional 2,538 shares during the period. Finally, Guidance Capital Inc. raised its position in Oracle by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Guidance Capital Inc. now owns 6,143 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,128,000 after purchasing an additional 829 shares during the last quarter. 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.