Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Stock Price Up 2% After Analyst Upgrade

Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) rose 2% on Thursday 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 $234.93 and last traded at $234.53. Approximately 6,799,077 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 32% from the average daily volume of 10,071,582 shares. The stock had previously closed at $229.98.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, June 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Oracle from $145.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Oracle from $156.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Stephens assumed coverage on Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $167.00 price objective on the stock. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.15.

Insider Activity

In other Oracle news, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,866 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.53, for a total transaction of $428,552.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 31,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,749,670.92. The trade was a 8.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 17,500 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.24, for a total value of $2,646,700.00. Following the sale, the director owned 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,785,531.60. This trade represents a 23.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 440,366 shares of company stock valued at $83,103,603 over the last ninety days. 42.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in Oracle in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Oracle in the first quarter worth about $27,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Oracle in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Oracle by 284.9% in the first quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 204 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Oracle Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $666.79 billion, a PE ratio of 54.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $178.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $164.26.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.06. The firm 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%. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Oracle Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.