Citigroup Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Stock Price

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) had its target price reduced by research analysts at Citigroup from $194.00 to $160.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the enterprise software provider’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 8.54% from the stock’s current price.

ORCL has been the subject of several other reports. StockNews.com downgraded Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price target on Oracle from $214.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Oracle has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.71.

Oracle Stock Down 2.3 %

ORCL stock opened at $147.41 on Wednesday. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $166.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $169.34. The company has a market cap of $412.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. Oracle has a twelve month low of $112.78 and a twelve month high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.02). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The business had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.41 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Oracle will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total transaction of $64,050,487.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,565,931.52. The trade was a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 42.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ORCL. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 12.4% during the 3rd 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. Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its position in Oracle by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,325,268 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $395,295,000 after acquiring an additional 53,128 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Oracle by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $411,748,000 after acquiring an additional 121,874 shares during the last quarter. United Bank grew its position in Oracle by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 11,430 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,948,000 after acquiring an additional 519 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its position in Oracle by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 10,767 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,835,000 after acquiring an additional 747 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

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.