Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) was downgraded by investment analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday.
Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. UBS set a $55.00 target price on Oracle and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Jefferies Group set a $61.00 target price on Oracle and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Moffett Nathanson assumed coverage on Oracle in a report on Wednesday, September 6th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. Vetr upgraded Oracle from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $46.58 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, September 18th. Finally, Zacks Investment Research upgraded Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $54.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, August 18th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $55.02.
Shares of Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) traded up $0.14 on Friday, hitting $50.19. The stock had a trading volume of 22,259,200 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,348,773. The firm has a market cap of $208,882.97, a P/E ratio of 19.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.05. Oracle has a one year low of $38.30 and a one year high of $53.14. The company has a quick ratio of 3.61, a current ratio of 3.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.
Oracle announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, December 14th that authorizes the company to buyback $12.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the enterprise software provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.
In other Oracle news, Director Hector Garcia-Molina sold 3,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.83, for a total transaction of $183,112.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $885,043.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jeffrey Berg sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.03, for a total value of $2,161,350.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 302,026 shares of company stock valued at $14,633,187 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 29.00% of the company’s stock.
A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ORCL. Acrospire Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 947.4% in the second quarter. Acrospire Investment Management LLC now owns 1,990 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $100,000 after acquiring an additional 1,800 shares during the period. Burt Wealth Advisors lifted its position in Oracle by 4.3% in the second quarter. Burt Wealth Advisors now owns 2,151 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC lifted its position in Oracle by 81,200.0% in the third quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 2,439 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $118,000 after purchasing an additional 2,436 shares during the period. TrimTabs Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Oracle by 88.8% in the first quarter. TrimTabs Asset Management LLC now owns 2,687 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $120,000 after purchasing an additional 1,264 shares during the period. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue bought a new position in Oracle in the second quarter worth $129,000. 57.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
About Oracle
Oracle Corporation (Oracle) provides products and services that address all aspects of corporate information technology (IT) environments, including application, platform and infrastructure. The Company’s businesses include cloud and on-premise software, hardware and services. Its cloud and on-premise software business consists of three segments, including cloud software and on-premise software, which includes Software as a Service (SaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS) offerings, cloud infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and software license updates and product support.
