Stifel Nicolaus Increases Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Price Target to $180.00

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) had its price target upped by equities research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $150.00 to $180.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "hold" rating on the enterprise software provider's stock. Stifel Nicolaus' price target would indicate a potential downside of 9.85% from the stock's current price.

ORCL has been the topic of several other reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Oracle from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Stephens initiated coverage on Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $167.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Oracle from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Oracle from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $192.30.

Oracle Stock Up 13.2%

Shares of Oracle stock traded up $23.29 during trading on Thursday, reaching $199.67. 54,558,768 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,567,888. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $149.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $160.36. Oracle has a 1-year low of $118.86 and a 1-year high of $202.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $558.47 billion, a PE ratio of 48.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $15.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.58 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Oracle will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other Oracle news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.24, for a total transaction of $2,646,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 58,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,785,531.60. This represents a 23.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 5.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 27,366 shares of company stock worth $4,015,723. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ORCL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 2.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,925,413 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $22,498,982,000 after purchasing an additional 3,513,464 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Oracle by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,002,902 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $6,332,803,000 after purchasing an additional 156,269 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Oracle by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,814,302 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $5,954,961,000 after buying an additional 619,619 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,202,421 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $3,366,531,000 after buying an additional 1,722,037 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Oracle by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 19,741,423 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $2,760,048,000 after buying an additional 120,889 shares during the period. 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.