Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Price Target Raised to $315.00 at JMP Securities

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) had its price objective upped by JMP Securities from $240.00 to $315.00 in a report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a market outperform rating on the enterprise software provider’s stock.

ORCL has been the topic of several other research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Oracle from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Westpark Capital lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $195.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 price target (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $145.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Oracle has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $218.29.

Oracle Stock Down 1.4%

NYSE:ORCL opened at $245.30 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $689.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 1.39. Oracle has a one year low of $118.86 and a one year high of $251.60. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $196.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $168.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.06. Oracle had a return on equity of 87.34% and a net margin of 21.68%. The business had revenue of $15.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.58 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Oracle will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 46.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In related news, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 3,303 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.32, for a total value of $770,655.96. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 31,447 shares in the company, valued at $7,337,214.04. This represents a 9.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Jeffrey Henley sold 400,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.42, for a total transaction of $76,168,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 1,097,576 shares in the company, valued at $209,000,421.92. This represents a 26.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 448,669 shares of company stock valued at $85,555,309 over the last three months. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 71.6% during the first quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 257,378 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $35,984,000 after acquiring an additional 107,404 shares during the period. Rockland Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 4.8% during the first quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 10,165 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,421,000 after acquiring an additional 467 shares during the period. Calamos Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.5% during the first quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 711,290 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $99,445,000 after acquiring an additional 10,426 shares during the period. Cornerstone Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 34.1% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC now owns 12,968 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,258,000 after acquiring an additional 3,299 shares during the period. Finally, Peak Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter worth $211,000. 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.