Cantor Fitzgerald Upgrades Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) to Strong-Buy

Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Thursday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $214.00 price objective on the enterprise software provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on ORCL. KeyCorp increased their price target on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, December 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $182.73.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE:ORCL opened at $161.05 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $176.00 and its 200-day moving average is $161.21. Oracle has a 1-year low of $106.51 and a 1-year high of $198.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The stock has a market cap of $450.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.06.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.34 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Oracle will post 5.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.12%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oracle

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Oracle by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,500 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,960,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at about $491,000. Veracity Capital LLC grew its position in Oracle by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 1,979 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $330,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 10,870 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,811,000 after buying an additional 434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verde Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $255,000. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.