Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Downgraded by StockNews.com

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

Several other analysts have also commented on the stock. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Oracle from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. William Blair raised Oracle from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. HSBC increased their price target on Oracle from $144.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on Oracle in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an overweight rating and a $150.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. They issued a market perform rating on the stock. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $130.76.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE ORCL opened at $115.80 on Wednesday. Oracle has a fifty-two week low of $94.41 and a fifty-two week high of $132.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.34, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $318.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.55, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $119.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $113.27.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $13.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.29 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 336.11% and a net margin of 20.27%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.96 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Oracle will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.38%. Oracle’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total value of $99,966,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $141,546,631.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $141,546,631.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director George H. Conrades sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.13, for a total value of $2,903,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,071,294.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 42.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ORCL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Oracle by 5.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 147,273,413 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $15,599,200,000 after purchasing an additional 7,883,515 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 18,718,180 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,982,630,000 after buying an additional 635,994 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Oracle by 22.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,384,162 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,938,242,000 after acquiring an additional 3,323,334 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Oracle by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 14,599,902 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,539,268,000 after acquiring an additional 2,191,342 shares during the period. Finally, Putnam Investments LLC grew its position in Oracle by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 12,339,385 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,300,941,000 after acquiring an additional 697,961 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.