Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Given New $340.00 Price Target at Evercore ISI

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) had its price objective boosted by Evercore ISI from $270.00 to $340.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the enterprise software provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on ORCL. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. CIBC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Roth Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $195.00 target price (up previously from $145.00) on shares of Oracle in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $291.23.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE:ORCL opened at $328.40 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $242.19 and its 200 day moving average is $188.57. The firm has a market cap of $922.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.02, a PEG ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. Oracle has a 52-week low of $118.86 and a 52-week high of $345.72.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.06. Oracle had a return on equity of 80.42% and a net margin of 21.08%.The business had revenue of $15.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Oracle will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 9th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Oracle’s payout ratio is 46.08%.

Insider Activity

In other Oracle news, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 3,303 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.32, for a total transaction of $770,655.96. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 31,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,337,214.04. The trade was a 9.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Rona Alison Fairhead purchased 480 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $233.87 per share, with a total value of $112,257.60. Following the purchase, the director owned 22,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,170,865.70. The trade was a 2.22% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 44,183 shares of company stock valued at $10,353,198. 42.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oracle

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

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.