Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) shares gapped down prior to trading on Thursday after Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price target on the stock from $400.00 to $320.00. The stock had previously closed at $223.01, but opened at $190.62. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Oracle shares last traded at $193.8660, with a volume of 35,472,056 shares traded.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. HSBC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $382.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $375.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. Finally, Melius Research increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $270.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $304.54.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Michael D. Sicilia sold 33,845 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $321.16, for a total value of $10,869,660.20. Following the transaction, the insider owned 132,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,603,800.96. The trade was a 20.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director William G. Parrett sold 11,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total transaction of $3,519,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 17,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,435,784. The trade was a 39.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 204,254 shares of company stock worth $60,227,807 in the last quarter. 40.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 7.6% in the 2nd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 5,093,200 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,113,526,000 after buying an additional 360,000 shares during the last quarter. Private Wealth Asset Management LLC grew its position in Oracle by 9.2% in the second quarter. Private Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 3,817 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $835,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Oracle by 4.8% during the second quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 32,937 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $7,201,000 after acquiring an additional 1,515 shares during the last quarter. Cascade Investment Group Inc. bought a new stake in Oracle during the second quarter worth approximately $239,000. Finally, Lockerman Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Oracle during the second quarter valued at approximately $328,000. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $547.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.33. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $249.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $240.90.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.62. The company had revenue of $16.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.19 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 72.93% and a net margin of 21.08%.Oracle’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.47 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Oracle Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 9th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.30%.

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.