TD Cowen Raises Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Price Target to $180.00

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) had its price objective increased by TD Cowen from $165.00 to $180.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the enterprise software provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group upped their price target on Oracle from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. JMP Securities raised Oracle from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $175.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Oracle from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Argus lifted their price target on Oracle from $145.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Oracle currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $158.68.

Oracle Trading Up 2.7 %

Shares of ORCL stock opened at $161.36 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $139.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $129.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $444.69 billion, a PE ratio of 43.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.25, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Oracle has a 1-year low of $99.26 and a 1-year high of $162.34.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $13.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.23 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 223.01%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.95 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Oracle will post 5.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.13%.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Contour Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Oracle by 41.5% in the fourth quarter. Contour Asset Management LLC now owns 2,192,950 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $231,203,000 after purchasing an additional 643,490 shares in the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp lifted its holdings in Oracle by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 29,301 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,089,000 after buying an additional 3,291 shares during the last quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors grew its position in shares of Oracle by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 16,995 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,792,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Seven Mile Advisory increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 5,236 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $552,000 after acquiring an additional 502 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goelzer Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Oracle by 25.0% during the 1st quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,492 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $941,000 after acquiring an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.