Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Given New $245.00 Price Target at BMO Capital Markets

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) had its target price increased by BMO Capital Markets from $235.00 to $245.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the enterprise software provider’s stock.

ORCL has been the topic of a number of other reports. DA Davidson lifted their price target on Oracle from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Oracle from $145.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Westpark Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $195.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have 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 price target of $200.63.

Oracle Stock Up 5.3%

NYSE:ORCL opened at $230.55 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. Oracle has a 1-year low of $118.86 and a 1-year high of $231.90. The company has a 50-day moving average of $174.16 and a 200 day moving average of $163.33. The firm has a market cap of $647.58 billion, a PE ratio of 53.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 1.39.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.06. Oracle had a net margin of 21.68% and a return on equity of 87.34%. The firm had revenue of $15.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Oracle will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.08%.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In related news, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,866 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.53, for a total value of $428,552.98. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 31,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,749,670.92. This trade represents a 8.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Jeffrey Henley sold 400,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.42, for a total value of $76,168,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 1,097,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $209,000,421.92. The trade was a 26.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 440,366 shares of company stock worth $83,103,603 over the last three months. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ORCL. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,216,314,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Oracle in the 4th quarter worth approximately $930,095,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the 1st quarter worth approximately $732,692,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Oracle by 15,012.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,755,096 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $664,810,000 after purchasing an additional 4,723,631 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 2.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,925,413 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $22,498,982,000 after purchasing an additional 3,513,464 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.