Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-three brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $211.37.

ORCL has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Stephens initiated coverage on Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $167.00 price target on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a $240.00 target price (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised Oracle from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $190.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 10th.

Oracle Stock Up 2.7%

Shares of NYSE:ORCL opened at $241.25 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $192.33 and a 200-day moving average of $167.83. The stock has a market cap of $677.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 1.39. Oracle has a one year low of $118.86 and a one year high of $241.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $15.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.63 EPS. Oracle’s revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast 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, July 24th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.08%.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other news, EVP Maria Smith sold 10,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 40,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,507,622.93. This trade represents a 19.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Jeffrey Henley sold 400,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.42, for a total transaction of $76,168,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 1,097,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000,421.92. This trade represents a 26.71% 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 over the last 90 days. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. increased its position in Oracle by 71.6% during the 1st quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 257,378 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $35,984,000 after purchasing an additional 107,404 shares during the period. Rockland Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 10,165 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,421,000 after purchasing an additional 467 shares in the last quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Oracle by 1.5% in the first quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 711,290 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $99,445,000 after purchasing an additional 10,426 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Oracle by 34.1% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC now owns 12,968 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,258,000 after purchasing an additional 3,299 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Peak Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $211,000. 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.