Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

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

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on ORCL. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $183.63.

Oracle Stock Down 1.8 %

ORCL opened at $175.28 on Tuesday. Oracle has a one year low of $99.26 and a one year high of $198.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $485.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 1.03. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $180.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $155.22.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. Oracle’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.34 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Oracle will post 5.06 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 9th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.24%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $1,042,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,076,685. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Oracle by 5.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $411,748,000 after purchasing an additional 121,874 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 15.3% during the 2nd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 24,800 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,502,000 after acquiring an additional 3,300 shares in the last quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp acquired a new position in shares of Oracle in the third quarter worth $4,160,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 79.6% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 286,460 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $48,813,000 after acquiring an additional 126,985 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Miura Global Management LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle during the third quarter valued at $1,704,000. 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.