Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Trading 0.4% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) shares shot up 0.4% during mid-day trading on Monday after KeyCorp raised their price target on the stock from $190.00 to $200.00. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Oracle traded as high as $184.73 and last traded at $184.56. 704,892 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 8,222,256 shares. The stock had previously closed at $183.74.

ORCL has been the topic of several other reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $201.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Oracle from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Oracle from $140.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. JMP Securities lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Oracle presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.52.

Insider Activity

In other Oracle news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $1,042,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,076,685. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oracle

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its position in shares of Oracle by 91.7% during the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 13,771 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,730,000 after purchasing an additional 6,587 shares during the last quarter. Pitcairn Co. raised its position in Oracle by 3.5% during the first quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 20,017 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,514,000 after acquiring an additional 669 shares in the last quarter. Ossiam lifted its stake in Oracle by 28.1% in the first quarter. Ossiam now owns 42,761 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $5,371,000 after acquiring an additional 9,377 shares during the last quarter. Titan Global Capital Management USA LLC grew its position in shares of Oracle by 13.4% in the 1st quarter. Titan Global Capital Management USA LLC now owns 13,286 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,669,000 after acquiring an additional 1,567 shares during the period. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 13.1% during the 1st quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,579 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $575,000 after purchasing an additional 532 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Oracle Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $514.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.87, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.02. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $173.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $147.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. Oracle had a return on equity of 171.38% and a net margin of 20.40%. The company had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.23 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.24%.

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.