Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Thursday morning, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $214.00 target price on the enterprise software provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on ORCL. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Oracle presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.73.

Oracle Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of ORCL stock opened at $161.05 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. Oracle has a fifty-two week low of $106.51 and a fifty-two week high of $198.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $450.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $175.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $161.34.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Oracle will post 5.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Winch Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 89.7% in the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle in the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Oracle in the 3rd quarter valued at about $51,000. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in shares of Oracle in the 3rd quarter valued at about $51,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 21.9% in the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 312 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.