Company Update (NYSE:ORCL): Microsoft Offers Free Database Software to Lure Oracle Customers

[at Bloomberg] – Microsoft Corp. is offering free licenses for its database software to current Oracle Corp. customers in its latest effort to wrestle market share from its competitor. Read more on this. Oracle Corporation (ORCL) , currently valued at $159.48B, opened this morning at $38.77. Shares have traded today between $37.51 and $38.77 per share with its 52-week range being $33.13 to $45.24. ORCL shares are currently priced at 14.80x this year’s forecasted earnings, which makes them relatively expensive compared to the industry’s 13.96x earnings multiple. And for passive income investors, the company pays shareholders $0.60 per share annually in dividends, yielding 1.58%. Consensus earnings for the current quarter by the 34 sell-side analysts covering the stock is an estimate of $0.62 per share, which would be $0.06 worse than the year-ago quarter and a $0.03 sequential decrease. Furthermore, our analysis shows the full-year EPS estimate to be $2.60, which would be a $0.17 worse when compared to the last year’s annual results. The quarterly earnings estimate is based on a consensus revenue forecast of the current quarter of $9.13 Billion. If realized, that would be a 2.14% decrease over the year-ago quarter. More recently, Macquarie Initiated ORCL at Outperform (Mar 4, 2016). Previously, BMO Capital Markets Initiated ORCL at to Market Perform. Investors should keep in mind is that the average price target is $43.50, which is 12.20% above where the stock opened this morning. See more in (NYSE:ORCL) Similar Articles: Stock Update: Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) – Oracle Awards Banking Software Company Temenos ‘Exastack Partner Of The Year’ Company Update: Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) – Customers and Free Market Choice Are Winners in Oracle vs. Rimini Street Verdict Stock Update: Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) – Why Oracle’s Software Business Saw Declines in 1Q16