Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Rating Increased to Overweight at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a report issued on Thursday morning, MarketBeat reports. Piper Sandler currently has $270.00 target price on the enterprise software provider's stock, up from their prior target price of $190.00.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on ORCL. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $221.00 target price (up previously from $202.00) on shares of Oracle in a report on Friday, June 13th. Stephens started coverage on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $167.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $135.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $195.00 price target (up previously from $145.00) on shares of Oracle in a report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, JMP Securities set a $240.00 price target on shares of Oracle and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $209.33.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of ORCL stock traded down $4.55 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $230.45. 10,172,356 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,259,055. The company has a market capitalization of $647.29 billion, a PE ratio of 53.10, a PEG ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 1.39. Oracle has a 12-month low of $118.86 and a 12-month high of $241.44. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $187.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $166.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $15.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.58 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.68% and a return on equity of 87.34%. The business's revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Oracle will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Oracle's payout ratio is presently 46.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,866 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.53, for a total transaction of $428,552.98. Following the transaction, the director owned 31,764 shares in the company, valued at $4,749,670.92. This trade represents a 8.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Jeffrey Henley sold 400,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.42, for a total value of $76,168,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 1,097,576 shares in the company, valued at $209,000,421.92. This trade represents a 26.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 445,366 shares of company stock valued at $84,784,653 in the last three months. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Oracle in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 284.9% in the 1st quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 204 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company's stock.

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.