Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Cut to Sell at Monness Crespi & Hardt

Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded shares of Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) from a neutral rating to a sell rating in a research report released on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $130.00 price target on the enterprise software provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on ORCL. Melius Research raised shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. BNP Paribas raised Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Oracle from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.48.

Oracle Price Performance

NYSE ORCL opened at $169.66 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $474.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.48, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.03. Oracle has a 12 month low of $101.74 and a 12 month high of $198.31. The company’s 50 day moving average is $179.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $157.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The business had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.34 earnings per share. Oracle’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Oracle will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.12%.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle in the third quarter valued at approximately $217,000. SMART Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $786,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 84.5% in the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 863,883 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $147,206,000 after acquiring an additional 395,613 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 125.7% in the third quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS now owns 3,879 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $661,000 after acquiring an additional 2,160 shares during the period. Finally, DGS Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 6.6% during the third quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 6,486 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,105,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares during 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.