Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Up 1.9% on Analyst Upgrade

Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) shot up 1.9% on Wednesday after TD Cowen raised their price target on the stock from $250.00 to $275.00. TD Cowen currently has a buy rating on the stock. Oracle traded as high as $222.98 and last traded at $223.17. 3,050,403 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average session volume of 9,989,779 shares. The stock had previously closed at $218.96.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Westpark Capital lifted their target price on Oracle from $195.00 to $246.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Oracle from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Oracle from $210.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,866 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.53, for a total value of $428,552.98. Following the transaction, the director owned 31,764 shares in the company, valued at $4,749,670.92. The trade was a 8.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Jeffrey Henley sold 400,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.42, for a total value of $76,168,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 1,097,576 shares in the company, valued at $209,000,421.92. This trade represents a 26.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 440,366 shares of company stock worth $83,103,603. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Oracle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,216,314,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $930,095,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle during the 1st quarter worth approximately $732,692,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 15,012.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,755,096 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $664,810,000 after acquiring an additional 4,723,631 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,925,413 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $22,498,982,000 after acquiring an additional 3,513,464 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $176.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $163.79. The firm has a market cap of $666.79 billion, a PE ratio of 54.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $15.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.58 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 87.34% and a net margin of 21.68%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Oracle Corporation will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 46.08%.

About Oracle

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.