Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Reaches New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday after Guggenheim raised their price target on the stock from $220.00 to $250.00. Guggenheim currently has a buy rating on the stock. Oracle traded as high as $216.93 and last traded at $213.09, with a volume of 1955916 shares. The stock had previously closed at $215.27.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on ORCL. Loop Capital set a $135.00 target price on Oracle in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their target price on Oracle from $214.00 to $175.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Oracle from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated 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. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Oracle from $156.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $197.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 17,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.24, for a total value of $2,646,700.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 58,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,785,531.60. The trade was a 23.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.81, for a total value of $291,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 34,630 shares in the company, valued at $5,049,400.30. This represents a 5.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 442,366 shares of company stock valued at $83,395,223 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings 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 position in shares of Oracle in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company's stock.

Oracle Stock Up 1.2%

The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $599.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.14, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.32. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $165.09 and a 200-day moving average of $161.98.

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

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. Oracle's dividend payout ratio is 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.