Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Oracle in a research note on Friday, January 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $214.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.73.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ORCL opened at $179.78 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $168.99 and its 200 day moving average is $166.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $502.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.05. Oracle has a fifty-two week low of $106.51 and a fifty-two week high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). The company 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%. Oracle’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.34 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Oracle will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Trading of Oracle

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ORCL. Wealth Group Ltd. purchased a new stake in Oracle in the third quarter worth approximately $222,000. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its stake in Oracle by 12.4% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 8,019 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,366,000 after buying an additional 883 shares in the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 43.5% during the third quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 2,582 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $440,000 after purchasing an additional 783 shares during the period. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 3.1% during the third quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC now owns 12,931 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,203,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares during the period. Finally, BLB&B Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 3.5% during the third quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC now owns 6,655 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,134,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the period. 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.