Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Here’s What Happened

Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) saw an uptick in trading volume on Friday . 16,002,359 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 22% from the previous session’s volume of 13,084,921 shares.The stock last traded at $298.09 and had previously closed at $307.86.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ORCL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $195.00 target price (up previously from $145.00) on shares of Oracle in a research report on Friday, June 13th. BMO Capital Markets set a $345.00 target price on Oracle in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wolfe Research boosted their target price on Oracle from $300.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $296.84.

Oracle Trading Down 5.1%

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $244.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $190.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.33, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $820.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 67.61, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.46.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.58 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.08% and a return on equity of 72.93%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.63 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Oracle Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 9th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 9th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.30%.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, EVP Maria Smith sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.99, for a total value of $2,329,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 40,807 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,507,622.93. This represents a 19.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Clayton M. Magouyrk sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.10, for a total transaction of $3,211,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 60,722 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,000,580.20. The trade was a 19.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 44,183 shares of company stock valued at $10,353,198. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ORCL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Oracle by 2.1% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 164,278,874 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $35,916,290,000 after purchasing an additional 3,353,461 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Oracle by 1.7% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,459,391 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $16,060,427,000 after purchasing an additional 1,252,723 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Oracle by 0.6% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 19,741,423 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,760,048,000 after purchasing an additional 120,889 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Oracle during the second quarter valued at about $4,275,378,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in Oracle by 0.4% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 13,884,524 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,941,195,000 after purchasing an additional 59,164 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

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.