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

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $182.73.

ORCL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup increased their price target on Oracle from $157.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. DA Davidson increased their target price on Oracle from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th.

Insider Activity at Oracle

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 89.7% during the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, TFC Financial Management Inc. boosted its position in Oracle by 129.0% during the fourth quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 213 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Oracle stock opened at $173.50 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $169.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $165.80. Oracle has a fifty-two week low of $106.51 and a fifty-two week high of $198.31. The firm has a market cap of $485.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The business’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.34 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Oracle will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.12%.

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.