Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Given Buy Rating at Guggenheim

Guggenheim reiterated their buy rating on shares of Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $220.00 price target on the enterprise software provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.73.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $161.75 on Wednesday. Oracle has a 1 year low of $110.67 and a 1 year high of $198.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company’s 50-day moving average is $168.31 and its 200 day moving average is $169.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $452.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The business had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.34 EPS. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Oracle will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total transaction of $64,050,487.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,565,931.52. This trade represents a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ORCL. Wealth Group Ltd. bought a new stake in Oracle in the 3rd quarter valued at $222,000. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its holdings in Oracle by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 8,019 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,366,000 after acquiring an additional 883 shares during the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its holdings in Oracle by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,325,268 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $395,295,000 after acquiring an additional 53,128 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle in the 3rd quarter worth $133,000. Finally, United Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle in the 3rd quarter worth $610,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.