Stephens Begins Coverage on Oracle (NYSE:ORCL)

Stephens began coverage on shares of Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) in a research note released on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm issued an equal weight rating and a $167.00 price objective on the enterprise software provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on ORCL. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Oracle from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Mizuho raised their price target on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Oracle from $205.00 to $175.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Oracle from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.20.

Oracle Stock Up 2.0 %

NYSE ORCL opened at $152.40 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $165.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $169.89. Oracle has a one year low of $112.78 and a one year high of $198.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $426.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.41 EPS. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Oracle will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. This is a positive change from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total value of $389,448,893.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. This trade represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oracle

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Oracle by 89.7% in the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new position in Oracle in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

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.