Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Upgraded to Buy by Melius Research

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) was upgraded by analysts at Melius Research from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on ORCL. Citigroup upped their target price on Oracle from $140.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Oracle from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on Oracle from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $163.88.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ORCL traded up $8.72 during trading on Monday, hitting $170.75. 19,376,607 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,524,995. Oracle has a 1-year low of $99.26 and a 1-year high of $173.99. The company has a market capitalization of $470.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68. The business’s 50 day moving average is $139.85 and its 200-day moving average is $130.16.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $13.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.23 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 171.38% and a net margin of 20.40%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Oracle will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares in the company, valued at $8,010,030.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Oracle news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the director now 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 SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Lawrence Joseph Ellison sold 1,125,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,145,732,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $164,630,281,802.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,862,500 shares of company stock valued at $266,776,624 over the last three months. Company insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Oracle in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Westend Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle in the second quarter worth $30,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Oracle during the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Tidemark LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

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.