BMO Capital Markets Raises Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Price Target to $205.00

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) had its price objective boosted by BMO Capital Markets from $173.00 to $205.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the enterprise software provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on ORCL. Bank of America raised their price target on Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective 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 company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $183.63.

Oracle Stock Down 1.8 %

ORCL opened at $175.28 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $180.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $155.22. 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 has a one year low of $99.26 and a one year high of $198.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $485.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 1.03.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a return on equity of 171.38% and a net margin of 20.40%. The company had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.34 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Oracle will post 5.06 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. Oracle’s payout ratio is 41.24%.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In related news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were 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 directly owns 42,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,076,685. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. State Street Corp boosted its position in Oracle by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $12,003,241,000 after buying an additional 1,847,561 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Oracle by 2.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,194,683 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $5,977,015,000 after acquiring an additional 885,041 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Oracle by 11.6% during 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 during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Oracle by 1.8% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 17,898,029 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,049,824,000 after acquiring an additional 310,709 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Oracle by 0.4% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,608,951 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,489,345,000 after acquiring an additional 54,868 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.