Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) gapped up prior to trading on Friday after Guggenheim raised their price target on the stock from $185.00 to $200.00. The stock had previously closed at $161.38, but opened at $173.70. Guggenheim currently has a buy rating on the stock. Oracle shares last traded at $165.61, with a volume of 8,973,707 shares trading hands.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on ORCL. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Oracle from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Oracle from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Oracle from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $159.68.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.30, for a total transaction of $34,042,967.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,626,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $379,042,045.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.30, for a total value of $34,042,967.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,626,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $379,042,045.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Lawrence Joseph Ellison sold 1,125,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.69, for a total transaction of $161,651,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,145,732,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $164,630,281,802.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,862,500 shares of company stock valued at $266,776,624 in the last three months. Company insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ORCL. Contour Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Oracle by 41.5% during the 4th quarter. Contour Asset Management LLC now owns 2,192,950 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $231,203,000 after buying an additional 643,490 shares in the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 29,301 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,089,000 after purchasing an additional 3,291 shares during the last quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 16,995 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,792,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Seven Mile Advisory grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 5,236 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $552,000 after purchasing an additional 502 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goelzer Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 25.0% during the 1st quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,492 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $941,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Oracle Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68. The company’s fifty day moving average is $139.50 and its 200 day moving average is $129.55. The company has a market cap of $457.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.01.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $13.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.23 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. The company’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 43.13%.

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.