StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Oracle (NYSE:ORCL – Get Rating) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday. The brokerage set a “buy” rating on the enterprise software provider’s stock.
ORCL has been the subject of several other reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Oracle from $115.00 to $92.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 11th. Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Oracle from $115.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 9th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Oracle from $105.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 11th. Barclays set a $82.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research report on Friday, March 11th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “hold” rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday, December 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $91.65.
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NYSE:ORCL opened at $83.36 on Thursday. Oracle has a 12 month low of $69.91 and a 12 month high of $106.34. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $79.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $87.58. The company has a market capitalization of $222.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.94, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.82.
Oracle (NYSE:ORCL – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, missing the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $1.18 by ($0.05). Oracle had a negative return on equity of 383.80% and a net margin of 18.08%. The company had revenue of $10.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Oracle will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Oracle announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, December 9th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the enterprise software provider to reacquire up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.
In other Oracle news, Director Charles W. Moorman purchased 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 20th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $83.76 per share, for a total transaction of $1,256,400.00. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 43.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bellwether Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Oracle by 115.6% in the 3rd quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC now owns 291 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Oracle by 183.5% in the 3rd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 309 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Level Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Evolution Advisers Inc. acquired a new position in Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Bivin & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.33% of the company’s stock.
Oracle Company Profile (Get Rating)
Oracle Corporation provides 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 Fusion cloud advertising and customer experience, and NetSuite applications suite.
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