Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Upgraded to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday.

ORCL has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered shares of Oracle from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Oracle has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.73.

Oracle Stock Down 0.3 %

ORCL stock opened at $169.91 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $475.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $171.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $163.26. Oracle has a 1-year low of $106.51 and a 1-year high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The company had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.34 earnings per share. Oracle’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Oracle will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. Oracle’s payout ratio is 39.12%.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total value of $389,448,893.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in Oracle by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 325,610 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $55,484,000 after acquiring an additional 21,832 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in Oracle by 2.1% in the third quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 23,743 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $4,046,000 after purchasing an additional 495 shares during the last quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle during the third quarter valued at approximately $217,000. Triton Wealth Management PLLC grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 2.6% in the third quarter. Triton Wealth Management PLLC now owns 5,169 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $867,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lwmg LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle in the third quarter worth $215,000. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.