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

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-four research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fourteen have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $130.76.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. StockNews.com upgraded Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. William Blair raised Oracle from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. Finally, HSBC lifted their price target on Oracle from $144.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $124.61 on Friday. Oracle has a 52 week low of $97.29 and a 52 week high of $132.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.34. The firm has a market cap of $342.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.03. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $121.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $114.83.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $13.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.29 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 336.11% and a net margin of 20.27%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.96 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Oracle will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 9th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total value of $99,966,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $141,546,631.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total transaction of $99,966,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $141,546,631.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director George H. Conrades sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.13, for a total value of $2,903,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,836 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,071,294.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 880,000 shares of company stock worth $110,488,150 over the last ninety days. 42.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. Westend Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Oracle in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE raised its position in shares of Oracle by 298.4% during the third quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 243 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the period. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Tidemark LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.