Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Time to Buy?

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) saw unusually-high trading volume on Tuesday . Approximately 20,974,172 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 121% from the previous session’s volume of 9,497,800 shares.The stock last traded at $172.58 and had previously closed at $161.03.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ORCL shares. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Guggenheim raised their target price on Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price target on Oracle from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.73.

Oracle Stock Up 1.0 %

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $174.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $162.05. 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 cap of $520.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.06.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.34 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 39.12%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in Oracle by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 95,803 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $13,527,000 after buying an additional 6,215 shares during the period. Interval Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Oracle during the second quarter worth approximately $819,000. Clear Point Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 43.4% during the second quarter. Clear Point Advisors Inc. now owns 558 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.3% in the second quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,306 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,738,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the period. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI grew its stake in Oracle by 19.7% in the second quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 1,252,122 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $176,800,000 after purchasing an additional 205,817 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently 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.