Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Friday.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on ORCL. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Oracle in a research note on Friday, January 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $214.00 price target for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.73.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ORCL opened at $183.59 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $513.50 billion, a PE ratio of 44.89, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 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 firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $174.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $162.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly 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 return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The company had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.34 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Oracle will post 5.01 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is 39.12%.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total value of $389,448,893.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 42.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 89.7% in the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Oracle during the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle during the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in Oracle during the third quarter worth about $51,000. 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.