Oracle Co. Analysts Set Price Target at $182.73

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) has recently been assigned an average price target of $182.73 by analysts tracking the stock. A total of thirty investment firms have provided their insights on the company, leading to a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy". Among the analysts, one has advised selling the stock, ten have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given it a buy rating, and two have noted it as a strong buy.

Several equity research analysts have shared their perspectives regarding Oracle’s stock. For instance, JMP Securities maintained a "market outperform" rating with a price target of $205.00 in a report released on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded their target from $155.00 to $175.00, marking the stock with a hold rating on December 10th. Moreover, Guggenheim raised its price target from $200.00 to $220.00, affirming a buy recommendation on December 5th. Morgan Stanley also adjusted its price objective up from $145.00 to $175.00, labeling the stock as equal weight in a report on December 10th. Lastly, BNP Paribas elevated Oracle to a "strong-buy" rating on the same date.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In related news, Oracle’s CEO, Safra Catz, disposed of 2,101,154 shares on January 22nd for an average price of $185.35, summing up to a total of approximately $389.4 million. Following this sale, the CEO’s holdings decreased significantly, and she now possesses 1,118,592 shares currently valued at around $207.3 million. This act represents a 65.26% decline in her ownership. The transaction has been disclosed publicly in filings with the SEC, where it is accessible to interested parties. Notably, insider ownership in Oracle stands at 42.20%.

Institutional Investment Trends

Recently, hedge funds have been active in adjusting their stakes in Oracle. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC raised its equity position by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, now owning 13,165 shares valued at approximately $2.19 million after acquiring 234 additional shares. Flavin Financial Services Inc. also opened a new position in Oracle worth about $2.72 million during this quarter. Patron Partners LLC increased its investment by 3.2%, acquiring an additional 119 shares, leading to total ownership of 3,786 shares valued around $631,000. Columbus Macro LLC expanded its holdings by 31.4%, bringing its share count to 2,373, worth approximately $395,000 after buying an extra 567 shares. Additionally, abrdn plc increased its stake by 8.1%, owning 999,605 shares worth $166.38 million after purchasing 75,208 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds now hold about 42.44% of Oracle's shares.

Current Stock Performance

As of Thursday, Oracle stock was trading at $183.59. Over the past year, the stock has fluctuated between a low of $106.51 and a high of $198.31. The company maintains a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81, and also a quick ratio of 0.81. Oracle has established a market capitalization of $513.50 billion, with a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.89, a PEG ratio of 3.62, and a beta of 1.06. The moving averages for the last 50 days stand at $174.41, and for the last 200 days at $162.49.

Earnings Report Overview

Oracle's quarterly earnings report released on December 9th revealed earnings per share (EPS) of $1.47 for the quarter, which was slightly below analysts' expectations of $1.48 by a small margin of $0.01. The total revenue reported was $14.06 billion, with an analyst consensus expecting $14.12 billion. Year-over-year, the revenue showed an uptick of 8.6%, while the return on equity was remarkably high at 133.25%, coupled with a net margin of 21.16%. Analysts currently predict that Oracle will report an EPS of 5.01 for the current year.

Oracle's Dividend Announcement

In addition to its earnings, Oracle recently disclosed a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share, which was paid to stockholders on January 9th. Shareholders on record as of January 23rd received this dividend, with the ex-dividend date occurring on January 10th. This dividend results in an annualized amount of $1.60, reflecting a yield of 0.87%. The company’s current dividend payout ratio stands at 39.12%.

About Oracle

Oracle Corporation is a multinational technology company providing products and services that cater to enterprise information technology environments across the globe. The offerings include various cloud software solutions such as Oracle Fusion cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP), Oracle Fusion cloud enterprise performance management, and Oracle Fusion cloud supply chain management, among others.

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