Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Receives $178.65 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-nine analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, sixteen have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $178.65.

Several research firms have issued reports on ORCL. Royal Bank of Canada set a $145.00 price target on shares of Oracle and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Oracle from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com cut shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Oracle from $195.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Oracle from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE ORCL opened at $133.24 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $372.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.58, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. Oracle has a twelve month low of $112.78 and a twelve month high of $198.31. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $155.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $167.87.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.41 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This is an increase from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Oracle’s payout ratio is presently 46.95%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.81, for a total transaction of $291,620.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 34,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,049,400.30. This represents a 5.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,565,931.52. This represents a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,448,328 shares of company stock valued at $453,791,001 in the last ninety days. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Oracle in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 89.7% during the 4th 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 period. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. 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.