Bank of America Cuts Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Price Target to $300.00

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) had its price objective trimmed by Bank of America from $368.00 to $300.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the enterprise software provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. BNP Paribas set a $377.00 price objective on Oracle in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $342.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Oracle from $363.00 to $364.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Oracle from $415.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $360.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $301.57.

Oracle Price Performance

Oracle stock opened at $189.64 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $540.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.66. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $245.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $241.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.28, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.91. Oracle has a 1 year low of $118.86 and a 1 year high of $345.72.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.62. Oracle had a net margin of 25.28% and a return on equity of 70.60%. The business had revenue of $16.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.19 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.47 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Oracle will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 9th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.59%.

Insider Activity

In other Oracle news, Director Jeffrey Berg sold 49,365 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.02, for a total value of $13,971,282.30. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 151,999 shares in the company, valued at $43,018,756.98. The trade was a 24.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Clayton M. Magouyrk sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.64, for a total transaction of $11,065,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 154,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,610,859.20. This trade represents a 20.62% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 171,513 shares of company stock valued at $50,397,893 in the last quarter. Insiders own 40.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of ORCL. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Oracle by 189.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 153,580 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $25,593,000 after buying an additional 100,494 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Oracle by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,418 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $903,000 after acquiring an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. NFP Retirement Inc. raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 11.9% in the 1st quarter. NFP Retirement Inc. now owns 1,762 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $246,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the period. American Money Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. American Money Management LLC now owns 2,944 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $412,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Varenne Capital Partners purchased a new position in shares of Oracle during the 1st quarter worth approximately $167,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

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.