Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Receives $182.73 Consensus PT from Brokerages

Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have assigned a hold recommendation, seventeen have assigned a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $182.73.

ORCL has been the subject of several analyst reports. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com cut Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $162.22 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $173.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $163.03. The stock has a market cap of $453.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.66, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 1.06. Oracle has a fifty-two week low of $106.51 and a fifty-two week high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Oracle will post 5.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.12%.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total transaction of $389,448,893.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,331,027.20. The trade was a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 42.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Avestar Capital LLC grew its position in Oracle by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 11,677 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,946,000 after acquiring an additional 1,107 shares in the last quarter. AFT Forsyth & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 32.7% in the 4th quarter. AFT Forsyth & Company Inc. now owns 6,739 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,123,000 after purchasing an additional 1,659 shares in the last quarter. Howard Bailey Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Oracle by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Howard Bailey Securities LLC now owns 2,274 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 1,784 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $297,000 after buying an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TFC Financial Management Inc. lifted its position in Oracle by 129.0% in the 4th quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 213 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

About Oracle

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.