Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Stock Price Up 2.4% on Analyst Upgrade

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) rose 2.4% on Wednesday after Argus raised their price target on the stock from $145.00 to $159.00. Argus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Oracle traded as high as $145.06 and last traded at $144.64. Approximately 11,629,395 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 13% from the average daily volume of 10,250,644 shares. The stock had previously closed at $141.31.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. HSBC upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $144.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $144.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.79.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Michael J. Boskin sold 45,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.74, for a total value of $5,298,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 87,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,299,071.02. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Michael J. Boskin sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.74, for a total value of $5,298,300.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 87,473 shares in the company, valued at $10,299,071.02. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director George H. Conrades sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.00, for a total transaction of $2,320,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 17,836 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,068,976. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 880,000 shares of company stock valued at $110,488,150 over the last 90 days. 42.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oracle

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Contour Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Oracle by 41.5% during the fourth quarter. Contour Asset Management LLC now owns 2,192,950 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $231,203,000 after buying an additional 643,490 shares in the last quarter. Sandy Spring Bank boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 78,049 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $8,229,000 after purchasing an additional 1,107 shares in the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 29,301 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,089,000 after purchasing an additional 3,291 shares in the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 5,986 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $631,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Heritage Wealth Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 16,995 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,792,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.25, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.71. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $122.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $116.69. The company has a market cap of $397.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.01.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.02). Oracle had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 223.01%. The business had revenue of $14.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.35 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 11th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 11th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.11%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is 43.13%.

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.