Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Trading 3.7% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)’s share price shot up 3.7% on Thursday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $250.00 to $280.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Oracle traded as high as $251.60 and last traded at $250.27. 6,901,911 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 33% from the average session volume of 10,294,847 shares. The stock had previously closed at $241.30.

ORCL has been the subject of a number of other reports. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $221.00 price objective (up from $202.00) on shares of Oracle in a report on Friday, June 13th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $145.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.61.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.24, for a total transaction of $2,646,700.00. Following the sale, the director owned 58,090 shares in the company, valued at $8,785,531.60. This represents a 23.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Jeffrey Henley sold 400,000 shares of the 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 sale, the insider owned 1,097,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $209,000,421.92. The trade was a 26.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 445,366 shares of company stock valued at $84,784,653 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oracle

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ORCL. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Oracle in the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Up 3.2%

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $194.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $168.39. The firm has a market cap of $699.56 billion, a PE ratio of 57.39, a PEG ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.58 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.68% and a return on equity of 87.34%. The company’s revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.63 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Oracle Corporation will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 24th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Oracle’s payout ratio is 46.08%.

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.