Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Upgraded to “Buy” by Melius

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Melius from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Monday, Briefing.com reports. The firm presently has a $210.00 price target on the enterprise software provider’s stock. Melius’ price target points to a potential upside of 29.61% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Oracle from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Oracle from $140.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $163.08.

Oracle Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE:ORCL opened at $162.03 on Monday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $446.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.01. Oracle has a one year low of $99.26 and a one year high of $173.93. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $139.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $130.16.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.23 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 171.38% and a net margin of 20.40%. The business’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Oracle will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.89, for a total value of $2,068,350.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 58,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,010,030.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Oracle news, Chairman Lawrence Joseph Ellison sold 1,125,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.69, for a total value of $161,651,250.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,145,732,353 shares in the company, valued at $164,630,281,802.57. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.89, for a total value of $2,068,350.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,010,030.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,862,500 shares of company stock worth $266,776,624 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the second quarter worth about $2,141,000. Lazari Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 10.3% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,127,000. Finally, Creekside Partners bought a new position in shares of Oracle in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $425,000. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.