Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-nine ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, fifteen have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $174.42.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Oracle from $194.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of Oracle from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd.

Oracle Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE ORCL opened at $150.18 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $420.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.72, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.27. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $142.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $163.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. Oracle has a 52 week low of $114.55 and a 52 week high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.02). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The firm had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.41 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Oracle will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. This is an increase from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 46.95%.

Insider Activity

In other Oracle news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.77, for a total value of $648,850.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,538,339.30. The trade was a 7.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,866 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.53, for a total transaction of $428,552.98. Following the transaction, the director now owns 31,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,749,670.92. This trade represents a 8.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,366 shares of company stock worth $4,015,723 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ORCL. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle during the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Oracle by 284.9% in the first quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 204 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunbeam Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 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.