Jefferies Financial Group Lowers Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Price Target to $190.00

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) had its target price decreased by Jefferies Financial Group from $220.00 to $190.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the enterprise software provider’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Oracle from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.65.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of ORCL stock opened at $145.96 on Monday. Oracle has a one year low of $112.78 and a one year high of $198.31. The firm has a market cap of $408.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $162.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $169.85. 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) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.02). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The company had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.41 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Oracle will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 46.95%.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total transaction of $389,448,893.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. The trade was a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Oracle in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Oracle by 89.7% during the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new stake in Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Oracle in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.