Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Sets New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $225.00 to $250.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Oracle traded as high as $216.93 and last traded at $213.09, with a volume of 1955916 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $215.27.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on ORCL. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Oracle from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $200.00 to $235.00 in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Oracle from $156.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, Loop Capital set a $135.00 price target on Oracle in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $197.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Clayton M. Magouyrk sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.10, for a total value of $3,211,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 60,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,000,580.20. The trade was a 19.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.81, for a total value of $291,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 34,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,049,400.30. This trade represents a 5.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 442,366 shares of company stock valued at $83,395,223 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Oracle by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,925,413 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $22,498,982,000 after purchasing an additional 3,513,464 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Oracle by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,002,902 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $6,332,803,000 after purchasing an additional 156,269 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in 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 purchasing 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 valued at $3,366,531,000 after purchasing an additional 1,722,037 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 19,741,423 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,760,048,000 after acquiring an additional 120,889 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Price Performance

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $165.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $161.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07. The stock has a market cap of $591.37 billion, a PE ratio of 48.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.32.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.06. Oracle had a return on equity of 87.34% and a net margin of 21.68%. The firm had revenue of $15.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Oracle Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.08%.

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.