Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Friday.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on ORCL. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Oracle from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of Oracle in a research report on Friday, January 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $214.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.73.

Oracle Stock Down 1.5 %

ORCL stock opened at $183.59 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $513.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.89, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $174.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $162.49. Oracle has a 1-year low of $106.51 and a 1-year high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. Oracle’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.34 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Oracle will post 5.01 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total value of $64,050,487.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,565,931.52. The trade was a 23.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 42.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ORCL. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Oracle by 2.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $12,003,241,000 after acquiring an additional 1,847,561 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Oracle by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,194,683 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $5,977,015,000 after purchasing an additional 885,041 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Oracle by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,370,640,000 after purchasing an additional 1,917,416 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Oracle by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 17,898,029 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,049,824,000 after purchasing an additional 310,709 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in Oracle by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,608,951 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,489,345,000 after buying an additional 54,868 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is 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.