Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Stock Price Up 1.6% After Analyst Upgrade

Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) was up 1.6% on Friday after Mizuho raised their price target on the stock from $245.00 to $300.00. Mizuho currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Oracle traded as high as $248.00 and last traded at $248.90. Approximately 3,630,267 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 70% from the average daily volume of 11,954,375 shares. The stock had previously closed at $244.96.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on ORCL. Westpark Capital lifted their price objective on Oracle from $195.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Guggenheim raised their target price on Oracle from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. UBS Group raised their target price on Oracle from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Citigroup raised Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Scotiabank initiated coverage on Oracle in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $300.00 target price on the stock. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Oracle has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $227.04.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In related news, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 3,303 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.32, for a total value of $770,655.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 31,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,337,214.04. This represents a 9.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Michael D. Sicilia sold 15,880 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.48, for a total transaction of $4,041,142.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 99,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,247,469.76. This represents a 13.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 444,183 shares of company stock worth $86,521,198 over the last three months. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Winnow Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Kilter Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. LGT Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle in the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Oracle in the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, HighMark Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle in the 2nd quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07. The company has a market capitalization of $697.94 billion, a PE ratio of 57.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 1.43. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $230.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $180.39.

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

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.