Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Trading Up 2.2% After Analyst Upgrade

Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report)'s share price traded up 2.2% 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 $214.72 and last traded at $212.80. 6,407,689 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 45% from the average session volume of 11,678,213 shares. The stock had previously closed at $208.18.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on ORCL. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Oracle from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated 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. CIBC restated a "buy" rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Oracle from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $195.39.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 5,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.77, for a total value of $648,850.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 58,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,538,339.30. This trade represents a 7.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Jeffrey Henley sold 400,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.42, for a total value of $76,168,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,097,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $209,000,421.92. The trade was a 26.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 427,366 shares of company stock worth $80,183,723. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Oracle by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,925,413 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $22,498,982,000 after purchasing an additional 3,513,464 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Oracle by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,002,902 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $6,332,803,000 after acquiring an additional 156,269 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.8% in the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 619,619 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 9.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,722,037 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 120,889 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Oracle Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 0.75. The stock's 50-day moving average is $155.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $160.82. The stock has a market cap of $593.20 billion, a PE ratio of 48.95, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.32.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $15.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.58 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.68% and a return on equity of 87.34%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Oracle Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Oracle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.08%.

Oracle Company Profile

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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