UBS Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Stock

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) had its target price upped by UBS Group from $200.00 to $210.00 in a research report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the enterprise software provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Melius upgraded Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Oracle from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.48.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ORCL opened at $177.74 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $179.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $154.67. The stock has a market cap of $492.53 billion, a PE ratio of 45.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. Oracle has a one year low of $99.26 and a one year high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $14.06 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.34 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Oracle will post 5.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 9th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $1,042,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,076,685. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Oracle by 2.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $12,003,241,000 after acquiring an additional 1,847,561 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Oracle by 2.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,194,683 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $5,977,015,000 after acquiring an additional 885,041 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Oracle by 11.6% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,370,640,000 after acquiring an additional 1,917,416 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Oracle by 1.8% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 17,898,029 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,049,824,000 after acquiring an additional 310,709 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Oracle by 0.4% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,608,951 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,489,345,000 after acquiring an additional 54,868 shares during the last quarter. 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.