Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Sets New 52-Week High After Earnings Beat

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $156.45 and last traded at $155.63, with a volume of 2505840 shares. The stock had previously closed at $139.89.

The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.06. Oracle had a return on equity of 223.01% and a net margin of 19.76%. The business had revenue of $13.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.95 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 43.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ORCL. Argus raised their price target on Oracle from $145.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. JMP Securities upgraded Oracle from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. TD Cowen raised their price target on Oracle from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $175.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on Oracle from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $155.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Oracle news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.89, for a total transaction of $2,068,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,010,030.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Oracle news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.89, for a total transaction of $2,068,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,010,030.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Lawrence Joseph Ellison sold 1,125,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.69, for a total value of $161,651,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,145,732,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $164,630,281,802.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,862,500 shares of company stock valued at $266,776,624. Corporate insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oracle

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Oracle by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 151,213,890 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $18,993,977,000 after acquiring an additional 1,514,569 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its position in Oracle by 0.4% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,466,713 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,319,604,000 after acquiring an additional 82,551 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its position in Oracle by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 14,599,902 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,539,268,000 after acquiring an additional 2,191,342 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Oracle by 2.3% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 13,242,340 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,869,816,000 after acquiring an additional 296,866 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in Oracle by 148.8% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 12,872,300 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,616,855,000 after acquiring an additional 7,699,141 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $138.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $128.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.25, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market cap of $434.71 billion, a PE ratio of 42.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.01.

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.