Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Gap Down on Disappointing Earnings

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $190.45, but opened at $173.46. Oracle shares last traded at $174.54, with a volume of 6,421,677 shares traded.

The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.34 earnings per share.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on ORCL. Melius Research raised Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com cut Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. KeyCorp raised their price target on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.48.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Oracle news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $1,042,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares in the company, valued at $7,076,685. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 16,023.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,065,083 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $351,890,000 after acquiring an additional 2,052,275 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 11.6% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,370,640,000 after acquiring an additional 1,917,416 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 2.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $12,003,241,000 after acquiring an additional 1,847,561 shares in the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 5,853.1% during the second quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 1,552,580 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $219,224,000 after acquiring an additional 1,526,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its stake in Oracle by 123.7% in the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,645,920 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $373,604,000 after buying an additional 1,462,978 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $494.86 billion, a PE ratio of 46.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $179.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $155.06.

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.