Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Given New $400.00 Price Target at Wolfe Research

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) had its price target lifted by Wolfe Research from $300.00 to $400.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Wolfe Research currently has an outperform rating on the enterprise software provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on ORCL. CIBC reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Westpark Capital lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $195.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $245.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $175.00 to $246.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $291.23.

Oracle Trading Up 36.0%

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $328.40 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $242.19 and its 200-day moving average is $188.57. The stock has a market cap of $922.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.02, a P/E/G ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 1.46. Oracle has a twelve month low of $118.86 and a twelve month high of $345.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $15.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.58 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.08% and a return on equity of 80.42%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Oracle will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 9th will be given 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 the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.32, for a total transaction of $770,655.96. Following the sale, the director directly owned 31,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,337,214.04. The trade was a 9.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Rona Alison Fairhead purchased 480 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $233.87 per share, for a total transaction of $112,257.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 22,110 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,170,865.70. This represents a 2.22% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 44,183 shares of company stock worth $10,353,198. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 164,278,874 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $35,916,290,000 after purchasing an additional 3,353,461 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,459,391 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $16,060,427,000 after purchasing an additional 1,252,723 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 19,741,423 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,760,048,000 after purchasing an additional 120,889 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the 2nd quarter worth about $4,275,378,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 13,884,524 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,941,195,000 after purchasing an additional 59,164 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.