Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Trading Up 0.4% After Analyst Upgrade

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) shares shot up 0.4% on Monday after KeyCorp raised their price target on the stock from $190.00 to $200.00. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Oracle traded as high as $184.73 and last traded at $184.56. 704,892 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 8,222,256 shares. The stock had previously closed at $183.74.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on ORCL. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Oracle from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Melius raised Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Mizuho upped their price target on Oracle from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Oracle from $201.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $169.52.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Oracle news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $1,042,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,076,685. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Activest Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 21.9% during the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 312 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Cadence Bank raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 0.8% in the third quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 7,605 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,296,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 0.4% in the third quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 17,626 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,003,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. W Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 3.1% during the third quarter. W Advisors LLC now owns 2,158 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $368,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.7% in the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 3,957 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $674,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Oracle Stock Up 0.9 %

The firm’s 50-day moving average is $172.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $147.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market cap of $513.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.57, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.02.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.23 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 171.38% and a net margin of 20.40%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.95 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is 41.24%.

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.