Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Thursday morning.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded Oracle from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, December 20th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. 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 report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Oracle currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.73.

Oracle Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:ORCL opened at $161.05 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $175.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $161.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. Oracle has a 12-month low of $106.51 and a 12-month high of $198.31. The firm has a market cap of $450.44 billion, a PE ratio of 39.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.06.

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 return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The firm had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.34 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Oracle will post 5.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. 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 buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle in the third quarter valued at about $44,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the second quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the third quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in Oracle during the 3rd quarter valued at $51,000. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.