Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Upgraded at Melius Research

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) was upgraded by research analysts at Melius Research from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note 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 research note on Monday. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Oracle from $105.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Oracle from $160.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Oracle has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $163.88.

Oracle Stock Up 5.4 %

ORCL traded up $8.72 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $170.75. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 19,376,607 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,524,995. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $139.85 and its 200-day moving average is $130.16. Oracle has a 1 year low of $99.26 and a 1 year high of $173.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $470.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.40, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.01.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. Oracle had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. The business had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.95 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Oracle will post 5.03 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.30, for a total transaction of $34,042,967.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 2,626,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $379,042,045.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.30, for a total transaction of $34,042,967.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,626,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $379,042,045.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Jeffrey Berg sold 22,500 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.12, for a total value of $3,220,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 210,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,157,101.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,862,500 shares of company stock worth $266,776,624. 42.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oracle

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Oracle by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,927 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $272,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Oracle in the second quarter worth approximately $2,141,000. Lazari Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Oracle by 10.3% during the second quarter. Lazari Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,867 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $546,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle in the second quarter valued at $36,127,000. Finally, Creekside Partners acquired a new position in shares of Oracle in the 2nd quarter valued at $425,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

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.