Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-nine brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $169.52.

ORCL has been the topic of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Melius raised Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Oracle from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Bank of America raised their price target on Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th.

Oracle Price Performance

NYSE:ORCL opened at $182.89 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $178.10 and its 200 day moving average is $152.85. Oracle has a 12 month low of $99.26 and a 12 month high of $196.04. The company has a market capitalization of $506.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68.

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

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. Oracle’s payout ratio is 41.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Oracle news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $1,042,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,076,685. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ORCL. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Oracle in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle during the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle during the third quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the second quarter valued at about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.