Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Rating Increased to Buy at Citigroup

Citigroup upgraded shares of Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $410.00 target price on the enterprise software provider’s stock, up from their prior target price of $240.00.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on ORCL. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $300.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Roth Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Westpark Capital increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $195.00 to $246.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $291.23.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of ORCL stock opened at $328.40 on Wednesday. Oracle has a one year low of $118.86 and a one year high of $345.72. The company’s 50-day moving average is $242.19 and its 200 day moving average is $188.57. The company has a market capitalization of $922.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.02, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 (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. Oracle had a net margin of 21.08% and a return on equity of 80.42%. The company had revenue of $15.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Oracle will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other Oracle news, insider Michael D. Sicilia sold 15,880 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.48, for a total transaction of $4,041,142.40. Following the sale, the insider owned 99,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,247,469.76. This trade represents a 13.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Maria Smith sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 40,807 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,507,622.93. The trade was a 19.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 44,183 shares of company stock worth $10,353,198. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oracle

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 3,353,461 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 1,252,723 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 120,889 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Oracle during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,275,378,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 59,164 shares during the period. 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.