Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Upgraded at Monness Crespi & Hardt

Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded shares of Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) from a sell rating to a neutral rating in a research note released on Monday, MarketBeat reports.

ORCL has been the subject of a number of other research reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.73.

Oracle Price Performance

NYSE ORCL opened at $161.75 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $452.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. Oracle has a 1 year low of $110.67 and a 1 year high of $198.31. The business’s fifty day moving average is $168.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $169.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.34 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Oracle will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid 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 39.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total value of $389,448,893.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. The trade was a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ORCL. Wealth Group Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Oracle in the third quarter valued at approximately $222,000. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its position in Oracle by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 8,019 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,366,000 after purchasing an additional 883 shares during the last quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC raised its position in Oracle by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 1,579 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $269,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Janney Capital Management LLC raised its position in Oracle by 24.4% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Capital Management LLC now owns 5,607 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $956,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. raised its position in Oracle by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 14,640 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,549,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

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.