Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Upgraded to Neutral at Monness Crespi & Hardt

Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded shares of Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) from a sell rating to a neutral rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on ORCL. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald cut Oracle to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.73.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $161.91 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $452.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. Oracle has a 1-year low of $110.36 and a 1-year high of $198.31. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $168.79 and its 200 day moving average is $169.01.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced 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). The company had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.34 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Oracle will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Oracle by 89.7% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. 42.44% of the stock is owned by 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.