Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Upgraded at StockNews.com

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

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $105.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, JMP Securities raised shares of Oracle from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $175.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Oracle has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $159.68.

Oracle Trading Up 0.4 %

Oracle stock opened at $162.00 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $446.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.67, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Oracle has a 1 year low of $99.26 and a 1 year high of $173.93. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $139.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $129.90.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (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 analysts’ expectations of $13.23 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Oracle will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 43.13%.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In related news, Chairman Lawrence Joseph Ellison sold 1,125,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.69, for a total value of $161,651,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,145,732,353 shares in the company, valued at $164,630,281,802.57. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Oracle news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 58,090 shares in the company, valued at $8,010,030.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Lawrence Joseph Ellison sold 1,125,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.69, for a total transaction of $161,651,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,145,732,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $164,630,281,802.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,862,500 shares of company stock worth $266,776,624 over the last three months. 42.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 153.3% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 11,947 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,260,000 after acquiring an additional 7,230 shares in the last quarter. Brio Consultants LLC boosted its position in Oracle by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Brio Consultants LLC now owns 2,942 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $310,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC boosted its position in Oracle by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 3,951 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $417,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. purchased a new stake in Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $359,000. Finally, Aveo Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $290,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently 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.