Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Price Target Cut to $190.00 by Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) had its price target trimmed by Jefferies Financial Group from $220.00 to $190.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the enterprise software provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on ORCL. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Oracle from $210.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Oracle from $194.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Oracle has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.00.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $140.07 on Monday. 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’s 50 day moving average price is $163.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $170.16. The company has a market cap of $391.77 billion, a PE ratio of 34.25, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 posted its earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.41 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Oracle will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. This is an increase from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

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

Institutional Trading of Oracle

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its position 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 during the period. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. 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.