Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Sees Strong Trading Volume - Here's What Happened

Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) witnessed a remarkable surge in trading volume recently, with 20,974,172 shares exchanged on Tuesday. This figure marks a substantial increase of 121% compared to the previous session's volume of 9,497,800 shares. The stock's last traded price was $172.58, having earlier closed at $161.03.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Analysts from various brokerages have recently chimed in on Oracle's stock. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage and assigned an "overweight" rating with a target price of $214.00. Meanwhile, the Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $165.00 price target. Evercore ISI raised their price objective from $190.00 to $200.00, assigning an "outperform" rating, while Piper Sandler upped their target from $185.00 to $210.00 with an "overweight" rating. Lastly, BMO Capital Markets increased their target from $173.00 to $205.00, maintaining a "market perform" rating. Overall, one analyst rated the stock as a sell, ten gave it a hold rating, eighteen suggested a buy, and two analysts assigned a strong buy rating. Current data indicates an average rating of "Moderate Buy" for Oracle's stock, with a consensus price target of $182.73.

Oracle Trading Up 1.0 %

As of now, Oracle's market capitalization stands at $520.44 billion, with a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.50 and a P/E/G ratio of 3.39. The company has a beta of 1.06, a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, and both a quick and a current ratio of 0.81. The shares are currently trading above their 50-day moving average of $174.43 and their 200-day moving average of $162.05.

Oracle Posts Earnings Results

Oracle recently released its quarterly earnings data on December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported earnings per share (EPS) of $1.47, falling slightly short of analysts' expected $1.48 by $0.01. The company enjoyed a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. Revenue for the quarter totaled $14.06 billion, slightly below the $14.12 billion analysts had anticipated. Comparatively, in the same quarter last year, Oracle reported EPS of $1.34, signaling an 8.6% increase in revenue year-over-year. Analysts forecast that Oracle will deliver an EPS of 5.01 for the current year.

Dividend Announcement

The company has also declared a quarterly dividend, which was distributed on January 9th, to investors recorded on January 23rd. The dividend amounted to $0.40, translating to an annualized dividend of $1.60, resulting in a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date was January 10th, and Oracle’s current dividend payout ratio is 39.12%.

Institutional Trading Activity

Institutional investors have made several recent changes to their positions in Oracle. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in the company valued at $25,000 in the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC notably raised its stake by 89.7%, now holding 184 shares worth $31,000 after an additional purchase of 87 shares. Reston Wealth Management LLC also entered the fray with a new position valued at about $44,000 in the third quarter. In total, institutional and hedge fund ownership of Oracle stands at 42.44%.

About Oracle Corporation

Oracle Corporation provides a wide range of products and services tailored to enterprise IT needs, globally. Their offerings include a suite of cloud software applications, such as Oracle Fusion for various management functions, Oracle Cerner for healthcare, and NetSuite applications, among others.

To summarize, Oracle Corporation is experiencing significant trading activity, and analysts continue to have an optimistic outlook on the company. With strong earnings and a solid dividend policy, Oracle appears to be an important player in the enterprise software sector.

Oracle, Trading, Earnings