Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Westpark Capital

Westpark Capital began coverage on shares of Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) in a research report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $195.00 price objective on the enterprise software provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho upped their target price on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $145.00 price objective on Oracle and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Oracle from $220.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.65.

Oracle Price Performance

ORCL stock opened at $142.05 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $397.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.73, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. Oracle has a fifty-two week low of $112.78 and a fifty-two week high of $198.31. 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 $162.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.02.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.41 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Oracle will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This is a boost from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.95%.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of Oracle 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,331,027.20. The trade was a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 157,411,949 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $26,231,127,000 after purchasing an additional 2,296,069 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Oracle by 2.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $12,003,241,000 after buying an additional 1,847,561 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,002,902 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $6,332,803,000 after acquiring an additional 156,269 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,814,302 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $5,954,961,000 after acquiring an additional 619,619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,202,421 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,366,531,000 after acquiring an additional 1,722,037 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.