Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Trading 3.2% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) shares were up 3.2% during mid-day trading on Friday after TD Cowen raised their price target on the stock from $250.00 to $275.00. TD Cowen currently has a buy rating on the stock. Oracle traded as high as $237.99 and last traded at $237.39. Approximately 18,441,376 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 82% from the average daily volume of 10,140,491 shares. The stock had previously closed at $229.98.

ORCL has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Mizuho reduced their price target on Oracle from $210.00 to $180.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Oracle from $145.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Bank of America raised their price target on Oracle from $156.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Westpark Capital upped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $195.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, UBS Group set a $250.00 target price on shares of Oracle and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Oracle presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $204.15.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other Oracle news, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,866 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.53, for a total value of $428,552.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 31,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,749,670.92. This represents a 8.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 17,500 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.24, for a total transaction of $2,646,700.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 58,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,785,531.60. This trade represents a 23.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 440,366 shares of company stock valued at $83,103,603. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ORCL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 2.2% in 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 period. FMR LLC raised its stake in Oracle by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,002,902 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $6,332,803,000 after buying an additional 156,269 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Oracle by 1.8% in 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. lifted its holdings in Oracle by 9.3% in the fourth 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 during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Oracle by 0.6% during 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 during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Oracle Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $666.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $176.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $163.79.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last released its 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 business had revenue of $15.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.58 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 87.34% and a net margin of 21.68%. The firm's revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Oracle Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given 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 0.84%. Oracle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.