Evercore ISI Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Stock Price

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) had its price target reduced by investment analysts at Evercore ISI from $200.00 to $185.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the enterprise software provider’s stock. Evercore ISI’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 24.27% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Oracle from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Oracle from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.23.

Oracle Trading Down 4.1 %

Shares of Oracle stock opened at $148.87 on Tuesday. 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 has a fifty day simple moving average of $167.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $169.58. Oracle has a 12-month low of $111.18 and a 12-month high of $198.31. The company has a market capitalization of $416.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07.

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

Insider Activity at Oracle

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

Institutional Trading of Oracle

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 12.4% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 8,019 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,366,000 after buying an additional 883 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its holdings in Oracle by 2.3% in the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,325,268 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $395,295,000 after buying an additional 53,128 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 5.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $411,748,000 after purchasing an additional 121,874 shares in the last quarter. United Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 11,430 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,948,000 after buying an additional 519 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in Oracle by 7.5% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 10,767 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,835,000 after purchasing an additional 747 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.