Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Research Coverage Started at Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) in a report released on Friday morning, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage issued an overweight rating and a $214.00 price objective on the enterprise software provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on ORCL. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. UBS Group raised their price target on Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded Oracle from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Oracle presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.73.

Oracle Price Performance

NYSE ORCL opened at $161.05 on Friday. Oracle has a 52 week low of $106.51 and a 52 week high of $198.31. The company has a market cap of $450.44 billion, a PE ratio of 39.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $175.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $161.46.

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). The firm had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.34 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Oracle will post 5.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.12%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 89.7% in the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Oracle in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new position in Oracle in the 3rd quarter worth about $51,000. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in Oracle during the third quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 21.9% in the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 312 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. 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.