Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Now Covered by Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) in a research report released on Thursday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm issued a market perform rating on the enterprise software provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Erste Group Bank restated a hold rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. William Blair upgraded Oracle from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. HSBC raised their target price on Oracle from $144.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Oracle from $126.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. Finally, KeyCorp began coverage on Oracle in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They set an overweight rating and a $150.00 target price for the company. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $130.76.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of ORCL stock opened at $115.93 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $119.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $112.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.34. Oracle has a 12 month low of $93.29 and a 12 month high of $132.77. The company has a market capitalization of $318.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.01.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $13.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.29 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 336.11% and a net margin of 20.27%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.96 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Oracle will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total value of $99,966,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $141,546,631.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oracle

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 149,699,321 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $15,782,799,000 after acquiring an additional 2,425,908 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 2.6% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 62,586,810 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $5,815,566,000 after acquiring an additional 1,570,528 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 20,502,544 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,675,878,000 after buying an additional 1,794,080 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 3.5% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 18,718,180 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,982,630,000 after buying an additional 635,994 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 22.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,384,162 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,938,242,000 after buying an additional 3,323,334 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by 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.