Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Downgraded to Hold Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Wednesday morning.

ORCL has been the topic of several other reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded shares of Oracle from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $182.73.

Oracle Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:ORCL opened at $181.51 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $507.68 billion, a PE ratio of 44.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $169.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $166.67. Oracle has a fifty-two week low of $106.51 and a fifty-two week high of $198.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.34 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Oracle will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total transaction of $389,448,893.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. This trade represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 679,325 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $113,199,000 after acquiring an additional 89,723 shares during the period. North Star Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,462 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,410,000 after acquiring an additional 1,166 shares during the period. Breakthru Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter worth about $320,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 9,410 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,571,000 after acquiring an additional 917 shares during the period. Finally, Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.