Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Stock Price Down 4.6% Following Analyst Downgrade

Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) shares were down 4.6% during trading on Friday after The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on the stock from $320.00 to $220.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Oracle traded as low as $185.98 and last traded at $189.64. Approximately 54,759,534 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 225% from the average daily volume of 16,835,406 shares. The stock had previously closed at $198.85.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on ORCL. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $280.00 price objective on the stock. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of Oracle from $350.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Oracle from $350.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Barclays set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Berenberg Bank lifted their target price on Oracle from $202.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned 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.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $301.57.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In related news, EVP Stuart Levey sold 19,758 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Friday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $5,927,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 18,429 shares in the company, valued at $5,528,700. This trade represents a 51.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Jeffrey Berg sold 49,365 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.02, for a total transaction of $13,971,282.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 151,999 shares in the company, valued at $43,018,756.98. This represents a 24.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 171,513 shares of company stock worth $50,397,893 over the last three months. 40.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 2.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 168,960,500 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $47,518,451,000 after acquiring an additional 4,681,626 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Oracle by 1.7% in the 2nd 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. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Oracle by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 23,310,827 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $6,555,961,000 after purchasing an additional 266,588 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 19,741,423 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,760,048,000 after purchasing an additional 120,889 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle during the second quarter worth about $4,275,378,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Trading Down 4.6%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.33, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The firm has a market cap of $540.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.66. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $247.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $240.60.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.62. Oracle had a net margin of 25.28% and a return on equity of 78.59%. The firm had revenue of $16.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.47 EPS. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Oracle Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 9th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.