Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Trading 3.2% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) shares traded up 3.2% during trading on Friday 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 $237.99 and last traded at $237.39. 18,441,376 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 82% from the average session volume of 10,140,491 shares. The stock had previously closed at $229.98.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Stephens assumed coverage on Oracle in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $167.00 price objective for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price objective on Oracle from $214.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $221.00 price objective (up previously from $202.00) on shares of Oracle in a report on Friday, June 13th. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective (up previously from $145.00) on shares of Oracle in a report on Friday, June 13th. Ten investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.15.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,866 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.53, for a total value of $428,552.98. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 31,764 shares in the company, valued at $4,749,670.92. This represents a 8.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Clayton M. Magouyrk sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider owned 60,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Insiders have sold a total of 440,366 shares of company stock valued at $83,103,603 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oracle

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. grew its position in shares of Oracle by 71.6% in the first quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 257,378 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $35,984,000 after purchasing an additional 107,404 shares in the last quarter. Rockland Trust Co. grew its position in Oracle by 4.8% in the first quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 10,165 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,421,000 after acquiring an additional 467 shares during the period. Calamos Advisors LLC grew its position in Oracle by 1.5% in the first quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 711,290 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $99,445,000 after acquiring an additional 10,426 shares during the period. Cornerstone Advisory LLC grew its position in Oracle by 34.1% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC now owns 12,968 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,258,000 after acquiring an additional 3,299 shares during the period. Finally, Peak Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in Oracle in the fourth quarter worth approximately $211,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Oracle Stock Up 3.2%

The company has a market capitalization 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $178.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $164.26.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $15.90 billion during 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.63 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Oracle Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

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