Citigroup Has Lowered Expectations for Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Stock Price

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) had its price objective lowered by stock analysts at Citigroup from $194.00 to $160.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the enterprise software provider’s stock. Citigroup’s target price indicates a potential upside of 5.28% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on ORCL. StockNews.com downgraded Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Oracle from $205.00 to $175.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. BNP Paribas upgraded Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays lowered their target price on Oracle from $212.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on Oracle from $214.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Oracle currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.85.

Oracle Stock Up 5.4 %

Shares of NYSE:ORCL traded up $7.80 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $151.98. 9,499,124 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,116,197. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $166.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $169.62. The firm has a market cap of $425.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.20, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. 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 52-week low of $112.78 and a 52-week high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.02). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The company had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.41 EPS. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Oracle will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total value of $389,448,893.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Oracle by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 157,411,949 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $26,231,127,000 after purchasing an additional 2,296,069 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $12,003,241,000 after buying an additional 1,847,561 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Oracle by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,002,902 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $6,332,803,000 after buying an additional 156,269 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Oracle by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,814,302 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $5,954,961,000 after acquiring an additional 619,619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Oracle by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,202,421 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,366,531,000 after acquiring an additional 1,722,037 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.