Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Oracle from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Melius raised shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $105.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.52.

Oracle Stock Up 5.5 %

Shares of ORCL opened at $181.24 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $165.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $143.29. 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 1 year low of $99.26 and a 1 year high of $182.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $502.23 billion, a PE ratio of 46.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 1.02.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $13.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.23 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.95 EPS. Analysts forecast that Oracle will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.24%.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In related news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of Oracle 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,076,685. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the second quarter worth about $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in Oracle during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

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.