Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Trading Up 0.4% Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) shot up 0.4% during mid-day trading on Monday after KeyCorp raised their price target on the stock from $190.00 to $200.00. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Oracle traded as high as $184.73 and last traded at $184.56. 704,892 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 8,222,256 shares. The stock had previously closed at $183.74.

ORCL has been the topic of several other reports. UBS Group reiterated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Oracle from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. JMP Securities lifted their price target on Oracle from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Oracle from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Oracle from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $169.52.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $1,042,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,889 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,076,685. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle in the second quarter worth about $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Oracle during the second quarter valued at about $35,000. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new position in Oracle during the first quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Oracle during the second quarter valued at about $40,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Oracle Stock Up 1.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $514.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $172.14 and a 200-day moving average of $147.06.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.06. Oracle had a return on equity of 171.38% and a net margin of 20.40%. The firm had revenue of $13.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.95 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Oracle's dividend payout ratio is currently 41.24%.

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.