Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Given New $125.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) had its target price raised by Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $125.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the enterprise software provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on ORCL. HSBC boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $144.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Oracle from $133.00 to $128.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. William Blair upgraded shares of Oracle from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. They issued a market perform rating on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Oracle from $126.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $141.22.

Oracle Stock Up 13.2 %

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $140.29 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $385.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $120.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $115.81. Oracle has a 1 year low of $99.26 and a 1 year high of $140.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.34, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.02). Oracle had a net margin of 20.27% and a return on equity of 336.11%. The business had revenue of $14.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.35 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Oracle will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 11th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 11th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.14%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total value of $99,966,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $141,546,631.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total value of $99,966,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $141,546,631.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director George H. Conrades sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.00, for a total transaction of $2,320,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,068,976. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 880,000 shares of company stock worth $110,488,150. 42.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ORCL. One Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Oracle by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. One Capital Management LLC now owns 4,207 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $446,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Oracle during the 3rd quarter valued at about $271,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Oracle by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 35,259 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,735,000 after purchasing an additional 865 shares in the last quarter. Truepoint Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle during the 3rd quarter valued at about $320,000. Finally, Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1,928.7% during the 3rd quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 5,863 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $621,000 after acquiring an additional 5,574 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by 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.