Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Raised to “Buy” at StockNews.com

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday.

ORCL has been the subject of several other reports. HSBC boosted their price objective on Oracle from $144.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Oppenheimer started coverage on Oracle in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Oracle from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Argus upgraded Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Oracle from $126.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Oracle currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.76.

Oracle Price Performance

NYSE ORCL traded up $0.54 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $115.07. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,491,654 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,535,559. The firm has a market capitalization of $316.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.01. Oracle has a 1-year low of $93.29 and a 1-year high of $132.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.34, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company’s 50-day moving average is $119.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $113.03.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.04. Oracle had a return on equity of 336.11% and a net margin of 20.27%. The company had revenue of $13.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.96 EPS. Oracle’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Oracle will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total value of $99,966,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $141,546,631.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 42.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sky Investment Group LLC raised its stake in Oracle by 2.1% in the first quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC now owns 10,270 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,290,000 after buying an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in Oracle by 7.9% in the first quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 34,946 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $4,390,000 after buying an additional 2,555 shares in the last quarter. Arbor Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle in the first quarter valued at $238,000. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC raised its stake in Oracle by 4.3% in the first quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 8,637 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,085,000 after buying an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC raised its stake in Oracle by 63.4% in the first quarter. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC now owns 46,116 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $5,793,000 after buying an additional 17,897 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.