Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Price Target Lowered to $135.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) had its price objective cut by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $140.00 to $135.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the enterprise software provider’s stock.

ORCL has been the topic of a number of other reports. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Oracle from $205.00 to $175.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised Oracle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Oracle from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Oracle from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Oracle currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.92.

Oracle Trading Down 3.0 %

ORCL opened at $144.29 on Tuesday. Oracle has a one year low of $112.78 and a one year high of $198.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $403.58 billion, a PE ratio of 35.28, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $166.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $169.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.02). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The business had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.41 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Oracle will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This is an increase from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total value of $389,448,893.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Oracle by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 157,411,949 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $26,231,127,000 after buying an additional 2,296,069 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Oracle by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $12,003,241,000 after buying an additional 1,847,561 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in Oracle by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,002,902 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $6,332,803,000 after buying an additional 156,269 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Oracle by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,814,302 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $5,954,961,000 after buying an additional 619,619 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Oracle by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,202,421 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,366,531,000 after buying an additional 1,722,037 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.