Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Trading 4.3% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)’s stock price shot up 4.3% during trading on Monday after Melius upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a buy rating. Melius now has a $210.00 price target on the stock. Oracle traded as high as $169.86 and last traded at $168.92. 8,104,051 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 4% from the average session volume of 8,461,667 shares. The stock had previously closed at $162.03.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Bank of America upped their price objective on Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Oracle from $140.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $163.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Oracle news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.89, for a total transaction of $2,068,350.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 58,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,010,030.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, Chairman Lawrence Joseph Ellison sold 1,125,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.69, for a total transaction of $161,651,250.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,145,732,353 shares in the company, valued at $164,630,281,802.57. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.89, for a total value of $2,068,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,010,030.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,862,500 shares of company stock worth $266,776,624 in the last three months. 42.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brio Consultants LLC increased its position in Oracle by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Brio Consultants LLC now owns 2,942 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 3,951 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $417,000 after buying an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. acquired a new position in Oracle in the fourth quarter worth approximately $359,000. Aveo Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $290,000. Finally, 9258 Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Oracle by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 90,285 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $9,519,000 after acquiring an additional 560 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Price Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $139.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $130.16. The company has a market capitalization of $465.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. Oracle had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. The firm had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company 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 expect that Oracle Co. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 43.13%.

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.