Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Hits New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Guggenheim raised their price target on the stock from $220.00 to $250.00. Guggenheim currently has a buy rating on the stock. Oracle traded as high as $216.93 and last traded at $213.09, with a volume of 1955916 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $215.27.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, June 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $195.00 target price (up previously from $145.00) on shares of Oracle in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and set a $240.00 price objective (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Oracle from $135.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $197.67.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.81, for a total value of $291,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,049,400.30. This trade represents a 5.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Clayton M. Magouyrk sold 15,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.10, for a total value of $3,211,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 60,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,000,580.20. This trade represents a 19.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 442,366 shares of company stock worth $83,395,223. 42.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 189.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 153,580 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $25,593,000 after acquiring an additional 100,494 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Oracle by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,418 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $903,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. Advisor OS LLC boosted its holdings in Oracle by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 3,678 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $613,000 after purchasing an additional 612 shares during the period. NewEdge Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Oracle by 291.9% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 119,859 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $19,973,000 after purchasing an additional 89,278 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at $186,000. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Up 1.2%

The company has a market cap of $599.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The company has a 50 day moving average of $166.79 and a 200-day moving average of $162.13.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.58 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 87.34% and a net margin of 21.68%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.63 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Oracle Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 46.08%.

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.