Research analysts at Instinet started coverage on shares of Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $51.12 price target on the enterprise software provider’s stock. Instinet’s price objective suggests a potential downside of 3.09% from the company’s current price.
A number of other research firms have also recently commented on ORCL. Vetr raised shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $60.60 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 2nd. Nomura assumed coverage on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $64.00 price objective for the company. Zacks Investment Research raised shares of Oracle from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Oracle and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Drexel Hamilton reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $62.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Oracle currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $55.39.
Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) traded up $1.15 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $52.75. 13,591,486 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,180,000. The company has a current ratio of 5.07, a quick ratio of 5.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Oracle has a fifty-two week low of $39.67 and a fifty-two week high of $53.14. The stock has a market cap of $220,150.00, a PE ratio of 22.64, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.05.
Oracle announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, December 14th that permits the company to buyback $12.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the enterprise software provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.
In other Oracle news, EVP Dorian Daley sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.59, for a total value of $4,759,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 136,954 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,517,640.86. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Hector Garcia-Molina sold 3,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.40, for a total transaction of $181,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $877,250. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,956,250 shares of company stock valued at $98,313,363 in the last three months. 29.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ORCL. Acrospire Investment Management LLC grew its position in Oracle by 947.4% during the 2nd quarter. Acrospire Investment Management LLC now owns 1,990 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $100,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. Burt Wealth Advisors grew its position in Oracle by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Burt Wealth Advisors now owns 2,151 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $107,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Oracle by 65.9% during the 2nd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,383 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $154,000 after purchasing an additional 947 shares during the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC grew its position in Oracle by 81,200.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 2,439 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $118,000 after purchasing an additional 2,436 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new stake in Oracle during the 2nd quarter valued at about $129,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.98% of the company’s stock.
Oracle Company Profile
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.
