Oracle’s (ORCL) Buy Rating Reiterated at Guggenheim

Guggenheim reiterated their buy rating on shares of Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) in a research note published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $220.00 price objective on the enterprise software provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of Oracle to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of Oracle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.73.

Oracle Stock Up 3.3 %

ORCL stock opened at $155.89 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $167.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $169.10. The company has a market capitalization of $436.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Oracle has a 12 month low of $111.18 and a 12 month high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.34 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Oracle will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total transaction of $389,448,893.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,331,027.20. This trade represents a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oracle

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ORCL. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 89.7% in the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Oracle Company Profile

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.