Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Given Buy Rating at UBS Group

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by UBS Group in a report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. They presently have a $225.00 price target on the enterprise software provider’s stock, up from their previous price target of $200.00. UBS Group’s price objective points to a potential upside of 5.70% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on ORCL. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “moderate buy” rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $194.32.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ORCL traded down $2.35 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $212.87. 11,765,897 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,731,925. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $152.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $160.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $595.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.07, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. Oracle has a one year low of $118.86 and a one year high of $216.98.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.58 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. Oracle’s revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.63 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Oracle will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.24, for a total transaction of $2,646,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,785,531.60. This represents a 23.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.81, for a total transaction of $291,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 34,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,049,400.30. This represents a 5.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 427,366 shares of company stock worth $80,183,723. 42.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oracle

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Oracle by 2.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,925,413 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $22,498,982,000 after purchasing an additional 3,513,464 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in Oracle by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,002,902 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $6,332,803,000 after buying an additional 156,269 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,814,302 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $5,954,961,000 after buying an additional 619,619 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Oracle by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,202,421 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,366,531,000 after purchasing an additional 1,722,037 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 0.6% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 19,741,423 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,760,048,000 after buying an additional 120,889 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

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.