Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Lifted to Buy at Melius Research

by · The Markets Daily

Melius Research upgraded shares of Oracle (NYSE:ORCL – Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Monday, Benzinga reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Oracle from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Oracle from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Barclays increased their target price on Oracle from $160.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Oracle from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Oracle from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $163.88.

Read Our Latest Research Report on ORCL

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $167.56 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $461.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $141.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $131.44. Oracle has a twelve month low of $99.26 and a twelve month high of $173.99.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.06. Oracle had a return on equity of 171.38% and a net margin of 20.40%. The company had revenue of $13.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.95 earnings per share. Oracle’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Oracle will post 5.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is 43.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In related news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $1,042,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,076,685. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $1,042,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,076,685. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Edward Screven sold 426,861 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total value of $60,575,844.51. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,626,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $372,764,079.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,610,402 shares of company stock valued at $230,556,257 in the last 90 days. 42.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brio Consultants LLC raised its position in shares of Oracle by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Brio Consultants LLC now owns 2,942 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $310,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC raised its position in Oracle by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 3,951 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $417,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. acquired a new position in Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $359,000. Aveo Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $290,000. Finally, 9258 Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Oracle by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 90,285 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $9,519,000 after purchasing an additional 560 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

About Oracle

(Get Free Report)

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.

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