Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Stock Price Down 11% on Analyst Downgrade

Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)’s stock price fell 11% during trading on Thursday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from $375.00 to $370.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Oracle traded as low as $186.23 and last traded at $198.57. 99,731,407 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 499% from the average session volume of 16,663,457 shares. The stock had previously closed at $223.01.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on ORCL. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $350.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group set a $325.00 price target on Oracle in a report on Thursday. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Oracle from $270.00 to $230.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Melius Research raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $270.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $304.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Oracle news, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,222 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.91, for a total transaction of $641,958.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 29,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,443,394.75. The trade was a 7.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Maria Smith sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.62, for a total transaction of $1,403,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 47,083 shares in the company, valued at $13,212,431.46. The trade was a 9.60% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 204,254 shares of company stock valued at $60,227,807 in the last three months. 40.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oracle

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. Winnow Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle in the second quarter worth about $28,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Kilter Group LLC acquired a new position in Oracle in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Oracle by 130.0% during the 3rd quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC now owns 115 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC raised its stake in Oracle by 76.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 115 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Trading Down 11.0%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.33. The firm has a market cap of $566.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.97, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $249.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $240.90.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted 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. Oracle had a return on equity of 72.93% and a net margin of 21.08%.The firm had revenue of $16.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.47 earnings per share. Oracle’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Oracle Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

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

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.