Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-nine ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $181.48.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ORCL shares. UBS Group upped their price target on Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt cut shares of Oracle from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, December 20th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oracle

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ORCL. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Oracle in the third quarter worth $217,000. SMART Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle in the third quarter worth about $786,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 84.5% in the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 863,883 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $147,206,000 after acquiring an additional 395,613 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS boosted its holdings in Oracle by 125.7% during the 3rd quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS now owns 3,879 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $661,000 after acquiring an additional 2,160 shares during the period. Finally, DGS Capital Management LLC grew its position in Oracle by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 6,486 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,105,000 after acquiring an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE ORCL opened at $168.96 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $472.57 billion, a PE ratio of 41.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.03. Oracle has a 52-week low of $101.74 and a 52-week high of $198.31. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $179.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $159.28.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The company had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.34 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Oracle will post 5.03 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 9th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.12%.

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.