Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Up 1% Following Analyst Upgrade

Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) shares shot up 1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Evercore ISI raised their price target on the stock from $215.00 to $270.00. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Oracle traded as high as $232.96 and last traded at $231.65. 2,413,909 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 10,245,752 shares. The stock had previously closed at $229.28.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Oracle from $156.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Stifel Nicolaus raised Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, UBS Group set a $250.00 price target on Oracle and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Oracle currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.37.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,866 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.53, for a total transaction of $428,552.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 31,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,749,670.92. This represents a 8.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Maria Smith sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.99, for a total transaction of $2,329,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 40,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,507,622.93. The trade was a 19.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 445,366 shares of company stock worth $84,784,653 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Oracle in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Oracle in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Oracle by 284.9% in the first quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 204 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Oracle Trading Up 2.5%

The company has a market cap of $659.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.14, a PEG ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $190.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $167.32.

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

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given 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 yield of 0.85%. Oracle’s payout ratio is 46.08%.

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.