Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Oracle Corporation has received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from 34 brokerages, with a target price of $222.75 for the next 12 months.
• Insider trading includes a recent purchase of 480 shares by Director Rona Alison Fairhead at $233.87 per share, increasing her position by 2.22%.
• Oracle reported a net margin of 21.68% and a revenue increase of 11.3% year-over-year, with earnings per share of $1.70 for the last quarter.

Shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the thirty-four brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twenty-three have assigned a buy recommendation and three have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $222.75.

ORCL has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating and set a $240.00 price objective (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Oracle news, Director Rona Alison Fairhead acquired 480 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $233.87 per share, with a total value of $112,257.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 22,110 shares in the company, valued at $5,170,865.70. This trade represents a 2.22% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 3,303 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.32, for a total transaction of $770,655.96. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 31,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,337,214.04. This represents a 9.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 444,183 shares of company stock valued at $86,521,198 over the last 90 days. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Oracle by 2.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,925,413 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $22,498,982,000 after buying an additional 3,513,464 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 0.6% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 19,741,423 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $2,760,048,000 after acquiring an additional 120,889 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 0.4% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 13,884,524 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $1,941,195,000 after acquiring an additional 59,164 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 13,825,360 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $2,303,858,000 after acquiring an additional 2,350,448 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 3.3% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 12,736,855 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $1,749,280,000 after acquiring an additional 409,691 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Oracle Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:ORCL opened at $250.04 on Monday. Oracle has a one year low of $118.86 and a one year high of $260.87. The company has a 50 day moving average of $222.64 and a 200-day moving average of $177.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market cap of $702.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 1.43.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.06. Oracle had a net margin of 21.68% and a return on equity of 87.34%. The company had revenue of $15.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. Oracle's revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Oracle will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. Oracle's payout ratio is currently 46.08%.

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.

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