Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Tuesday.

ORCL has been the subject of several other reports. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday. JMP Securities upgraded shares of Oracle from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $175.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $159.68.

Oracle Price Performance

ORCL stock opened at $162.00 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $139.85 and a 200-day moving average of $129.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68. Oracle has a 12 month low of $99.26 and a 12 month high of $173.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $446.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.01.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.06. Oracle had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. The business had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Oracle will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 43.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.30, for a total value of $34,042,967.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 2,626,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $379,042,045.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Oracle news, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.30, for a total transaction of $34,042,967.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 2,626,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $379,042,045.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.89, for a total transaction of $2,068,350.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 58,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,010,030.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,862,500 shares of company stock worth $266,776,624 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oracle

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Werlinich Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Oracle by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Werlinich Asset Management LLC now owns 2,325 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Oracle by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 2,869 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $405,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Invst LLC increased its position in shares of Oracle by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Invst LLC now owns 3,372 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $482,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. ERn Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Oracle by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. ERn Financial LLC now owns 12,911 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,823,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Key Financial Inc increased its holdings in Oracle by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 6,600 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $932,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

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.