Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $182.73.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. KeyCorp increased their price target on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, December 5th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total value of $389,448,893.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. The trade was a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Oracle by 201.7% during the 4th quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,599 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $266,000 after acquiring an additional 1,069 shares during the last quarter. RMR Wealth Builders raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 383.4% in the fourth quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 7,155 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,192,000 after acquiring an additional 5,675 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 24.8% during the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 164,593 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $27,428,000 after purchasing an additional 32,718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,800,000. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Oracle Stock Performance

ORCL stock opened at $167.92 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $168.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $167.02. The company has a market capitalization of $469.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.06, a PEG ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 1.05. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $109.66 and a fifty-two week high of $198.31.

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

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is 39.12%.

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.