Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Oracle presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $182.73.

Oracle Trading Down 3.0 %

ORCL stock opened at $176.01 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $169.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $166.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $492.30 billion, a PE ratio of 43.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.05. Oracle has a fifty-two week low of $106.51 and a fifty-two week high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $14.06 billion for 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.34 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Oracle will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total transaction of $64,050,487.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,565,931.52. This trade represents a 23.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 42.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,883,060 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $480,433,000 after buying an additional 333,755 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP lifted its holdings in Oracle by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 14,069 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,344,000 after buying an additional 846 shares during the last quarter. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Michels Family Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter worth about $538,000. Finally, Peak Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth approximately $211,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently 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.