Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Upgraded by Cantor Fitzgerald to “Strong-Buy” Rating

Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has $214.00 target price on the enterprise software provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas upgraded Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $201.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Oracle presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.73.

Oracle Stock Up 0.9 %

ORCL stock opened at $161.05 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $450.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.06. Oracle has a fifty-two week low of $106.51 and a fifty-two week high of $198.31. The business has a 50-day moving average of $176.00 and a 200-day moving average of $161.21.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The business had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.34 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Oracle will post 5.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. Oracle’s payout ratio is 39.12%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ORCL. Bridges Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 16.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,670 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,201,000 after purchasing an additional 3,191 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Oracle by 97.7% in the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 56,034 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $7,912,000 after acquiring an additional 27,685 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Oracle by 36.0% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 147,705 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $20,856,000 after acquiring an additional 39,107 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 21.4% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,296,012 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $182,998,000 after acquiring an additional 228,440 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Whale Capital LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,841,000. 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.