Royal Bank of Canada Begins Coverage on Oracle (NYSE:ORCL)

Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on shares of Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) in a report published on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a sector perform rating and a $165.00 price target on the enterprise software provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on ORCL. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Melius raised shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Oracle has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.52.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of ORCL opened at $173.52 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $160.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $140.20. The company has a market capitalization of $478.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. Oracle has a fifty-two week low of $99.26 and a fifty-two week high of $178.61.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.06. Oracle had a return on equity of 171.38% and a net margin of 20.40%. The company had revenue of $13.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.23 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Oracle will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.13%.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $1,042,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares in the company, valued at $7,076,685. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. acquired a new stake in Oracle in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.