Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Now Covered by Analysts at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) in a report issued on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a sector perform rating and a $165.00 target price on the enterprise software provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on ORCL. UBS Group reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Friday, October 18th. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Oracle from $105.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Oracle from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Oracle currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.52.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ORCL opened at $173.10 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $158.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $139.61. Oracle has a fifty-two week low of $99.26 and a fifty-two week high of $178.61. The firm has a market cap of $479.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $13.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.23 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 171.38% and a net margin of 20.40%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.95 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Oracle will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. Oracle’s payout ratio is 41.24%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $1,042,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,076,685. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC boosted its position in Oracle by 0.4% in the third quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 17,626 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,003,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Oracle by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 3,957 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $674,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Trust Point Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 13,606 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,318,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. First International Bank & Trust increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.8% in the third quarter. First International Bank & Trust now owns 3,734 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $636,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Finally, Adirondack Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 0.8% during the third quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 8,636 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,472,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.