Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Trading Up 3.1% Following Analyst Upgrade

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)’s stock price traded up 3.1% on Friday after Guggenheim raised their price target on the stock from $200.00 to $220.00. Guggenheim currently has a buy rating on the stock. Oracle traded as high as $192.22 and last traded at $192.06. 3,113,711 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 8,221,824 shares. The stock had previously closed at $186.24.

ORCL has been the topic of several other research reports. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $201.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.52.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $1,042,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,889 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,076,685. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oracle

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in Oracle during the second quarter valued at $30,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle in the second quarter valued at $35,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle during the 3rd quarter worth about $44,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Oracle Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The company has a market capitalization of $532.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $178.90 and its 200 day moving average is $153.32.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $13.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.23 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 171.38% and a net margin of 20.40%. Oracle’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.95 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.24%.

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.