Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Receives New Coverage from Analysts at Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) in a research report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage set a “market perform” rating on the enterprise software provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Oracle from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Argus raised Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. HSBC increased their price objective on Oracle from $144.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Oracle from $126.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. Finally, William Blair upgraded Oracle from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.76.

Oracle Price Performance

ORCL opened at $118.67 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $119.28 and a 200 day moving average of $112.78. Oracle has a 52-week low of $93.29 and a 52-week high of $132.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.34. The stock has a market cap of $326.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.31, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.01.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.04. Oracle had a return on equity of 336.11% and a net margin of 20.27%. The firm had revenue of $13.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.96 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Oracle will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total transaction of $99,966,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $141,546,631.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of ORCL. Sandy Spring Bank grew its stake in Oracle by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 78,049 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $8,229,000 after purchasing an additional 1,107 shares in the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 5,986 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $631,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Quantum Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle during the third quarter valued at approximately $229,000. Cooper Financial Group raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 43.4% during the fourth quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 5,038 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $531,000 after buying an additional 1,525 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth approximately $171,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.