Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Rating Increased 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 report published on Wednesday morning.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on ORCL. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Melius Research upgraded shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.52.

Oracle Price Performance

Oracle stock opened at $192.29 on Wednesday. Oracle has a 52 week low of $99.26 and a 52 week high of $196.04. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $175.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $149.41. 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 stock has a market cap of $532.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.02.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.06. Oracle had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. The company had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.95 EPS. Oracle’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Oracle will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.24%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Oracle news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $1,042,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,076,685. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Oracle by 5.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $411,748,000 after acquiring an additional 121,874 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its position in shares of Oracle by 15.3% during the second quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 24,800 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,502,000 after buying an additional 3,300 shares during the period. Chase Investment Counsel Corp purchased a new position in shares of Oracle during the third quarter valued at about $4,160,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Oracle by 79.6% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 286,460 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $48,813,000 after buying an additional 126,985 shares during the period. Finally, Buckley Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Oracle by 63.8% during the third quarter. Buckley Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,370 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,256,000 after buying an additional 2,870 shares during the period. 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.