Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Earns “Buy” Rating from Guggenheim

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at Guggenheim in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $220.00 price objective on the enterprise software provider’s stock. Guggenheim’s target price points to a potential upside of 71.65% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on ORCL. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Oracle from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Oracle from $195.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Oracle from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded Oracle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Oracle currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.65.

Oracle Stock Down 6.6 %

ORCL stock opened at $128.17 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $358.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.34, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.22. Oracle has a fifty-two week low of $112.78 and a fifty-two week high of $198.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $160.05 and a 200-day moving average of $169.33.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.02). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The business had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.41 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Oracle will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total value of $64,050,487.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,565,931.52. This represents a 23.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.81, for a total transaction of $291,620.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,049,400.30. This represents a 5.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,448,328 shares of company stock valued at $453,791,001 in the last quarter. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Second Line Capital LLC lifted its position in Oracle by 1.5% during the third quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 3,816 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $650,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Requisite Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Oracle by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC now owns 2,240 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $373,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 1,423 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $237,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. McLean Asset Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 5,447 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $908,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Warther Private Wealth LLC increased its position in Oracle by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,621 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $603,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.