Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Given New $160.00 Price Target at Citigroup

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) had its target price decreased by Citigroup from $194.00 to $160.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the enterprise software provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $195.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $214.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.85.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $151.17 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $166.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $169.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The company has a market cap of $422.81 billion, a PE ratio of 36.96, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. Oracle has a 52-week low of $112.78 and a 52-week high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.40 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The business’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.41 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Oracle will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This is a positive change from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.12%.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total value of $64,050,487.44. 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 $207,565,931.52. This trade represents a 23.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Oracle by 5.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $411,748,000 after buying an additional 121,874 shares during the period. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Oracle by 201.7% during the fourth quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,599 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 1,069 shares during the period. RMR Wealth Builders boosted its stake in Oracle by 383.4% during the fourth quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 7,155 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,192,000 after buying an additional 5,675 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Oracle by 24.8% during the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 164,593 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $27,428,000 after buying an additional 32,718 shares during the period. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth $1,800,000. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.