Oracle Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:ORCL)

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) saw some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Investors purchased 127,864 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 98% compared to the typical volume of 64,598 call options.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other Oracle news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.89, for a total value of $2,068,350.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,010,030.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 value of $2,068,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,010,030.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.30, for a total transaction of $34,042,967.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,626,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $379,042,045.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, 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 Trading of Oracle

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Verity & Verity LLC grew its position in shares of Oracle by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 2,241 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $316,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Oracle by 5.8% in the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,927 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $272,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Oracle during the second quarter worth about $2,141,000. Lazari Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Oracle by 10.3% during the second quarter. Lazari Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,867 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $546,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,127,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Trading Up 5.1 %

Shares of NYSE:ORCL opened at $170.37 on Tuesday. Oracle has a 52 week low of $99.26 and a 52 week high of $173.99. The company’s 50 day moving average is $140.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $130.57. The company has a market cap of $472.09 billion, a PE ratio of 45.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $13.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.23 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 171.38% and a net margin of 20.40%. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.95 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Oracle will post 5.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Investors 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 yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on Oracle from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. DA Davidson upped their price target on Oracle from $105.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Oracle from $140.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $163.88.

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.