Citigroup Issues Positive Forecast for Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Stock Price

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) had its price target hoisted by Citigroup from $157.00 to $194.00 in a research note released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the enterprise software provider’s stock.

ORCL has been the topic of several other reports. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.48.

Oracle Price Performance

NYSE ORCL opened at $177.74 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $492.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.81, a P/E/G ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 1.03. Oracle has a 1 year low of $99.26 and a 1 year high of $198.31. The business’s fifty day moving average is $179.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $154.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. The company had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.34 EPS. Oracle’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Oracle will post 5.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 9th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is 41.24%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Oracle news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $1,042,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,076,685. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ORCL. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the third quarter valued at about $44,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the second quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the third quarter valued at about $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Company Profile

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.