Stephens Begins Coverage on Oracle (NYSE:ORCL)

Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) in a research note published on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued an equal weight rating and a $167.00 target price on the enterprise software provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Oracle from $210.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on Oracle from $214.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. BNP Paribas upgraded Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Oracle from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Oracle has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.20.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of Oracle stock opened at $152.83 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Oracle has a one year low of $112.78 and a one year high of $198.31. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $164.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $169.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $427.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.40 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. Oracle’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.41 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Oracle will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This is an increase from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $207,565,931.52. The trade was a 23.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ORCL. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Oracle in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Oracle in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Oracle by 89.7% during the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. 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.