Guggenheim Reiterates Buy Rating for Oracle (NYSE:ORCL)

Guggenheim restated their buy rating on shares of Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) in a report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Guggenheim currently has a $220.00 price objective on the enterprise software provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Oracle currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.73.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ORCL opened at $161.75 on Wednesday. Oracle has a 52 week low of $110.67 and a 52 week high of $198.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $452.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.55, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $168.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $169.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65.

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

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Probity Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Probity Advisors Inc. now owns 3,725 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $621,000 after acquiring an additional 458 shares during the last quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Oracle by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,011 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,335,000 after buying an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth $286,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth $216,047,000. Finally, Brucke Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth $829,000. 42.44% of the stock is 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.