Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Given New $360.00 Price Target at Jefferies Financial Group

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) had its price objective boosted by Jefferies Financial Group from $270.00 to $360.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a buy rating on the enterprise software provider’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Oracle from $196.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Oracle from $270.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on Oracle from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $291.23.

Oracle Stock Up 36.0%

Oracle stock opened at $328.40 on Wednesday. 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 has a 12 month low of $118.86 and a 12 month high of $345.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $922.41 billion, a PE ratio of 76.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 1.46. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $242.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $188.57.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $15.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.63 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Oracle will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Oracle’s payout ratio is 46.08%.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other news, EVP Maria Smith sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 40,807 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,507,622.93. This represents a 19.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 3,303 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.32, for a total value of $770,655.96. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 44,183 shares of company stock valued at $10,353,198 in the last three months. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $35,984,000 after purchasing an additional 107,404 shares during the period. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. now owns 51,350 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $7,179,000 after purchasing an additional 2,110 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Oracle during the 1st quarter worth about $732,692,000. Rockland Trust Co. boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 467 shares during the period. Finally, Calamos Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Oracle by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 711,290 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $99,445,000 after acquiring an additional 10,426 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.