Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Thursday.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Guggenheim lifted their target price on Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective 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. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective 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. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.48.

Oracle Stock Performance

ORCL stock traded up $1.42 on Thursday, hitting $159.73. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 9,207,378 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,313,787. The stock has a market cap of $446.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $176.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $161.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. Oracle has a 1 year low of $105.68 and a 1 year high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $1.34 earnings per share. Oracle’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Oracle will post 5.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oracle

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ORCL. Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 89.7% in the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Oracle in the 3rd quarter valued at $44,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Oracle during the 3rd quarter worth $51,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle during the third quarter worth $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

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.