Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Trading Up 3.1% After Analyst Upgrade

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)’s share price traded up 3.1% during trading on Friday after Guggenheim raised their price target on the stock from $200.00 to $220.00. Guggenheim currently has a buy rating on the stock. Oracle traded as high as $192.22 and last traded at $192.06. 3,113,711 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 8,221,824 shares. The stock had previously closed at $186.24.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Oracle from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Oracle from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Mizuho upped their price target on Oracle from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Oracle from $140.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.52.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the company’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 transaction of $1,042,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares in the company, valued at $7,076,685. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oracle

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new position in Oracle in the third quarter worth $1,242,000. Capasso Planning Partners LLC purchased a new position in Oracle in the third quarter worth $207,000. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. raised its position in Oracle by 11.7% in the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 30,729 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $5,236,000 after acquiring an additional 3,207 shares in the last quarter. American Trust purchased a new position in Oracle in the third quarter worth $223,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Oracle by 11.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,370,640,000 after acquiring an additional 1,917,416 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Price Performance

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $178.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $153.32. The stock has a market cap of $531.16 billion, a PE ratio of 49.40, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick 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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.06. Oracle had a return on equity of 171.38% and a net margin of 20.40%. The firm had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. Oracle’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. 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.