What the Oracle Upgrade Means for Mutual Fund Investors (ORCL)

Piper Jaffray upgraded Oracle (ORCL) before the opening bell on Tuesday. Here’s what the move means for mutual fund investors.

Inside the Analyst Move

Piper Jaffray upgraded Oracle from “Neutral” to “Overweight” and has raised its price target from $44 to $49. This new price target suggests an 11% increase from the stock’s current price.

According to analyst Katherine Egbert: “We are upgrading Oracle to Overweight from Neutral as the feedback from our 2015 CIO survey suggests that Oracle’s cloud businesses are poised to benefit from an uplift in spending by existing customers, bolstered by spending to support existing on-premise systems. Our prior Neutral rating was based on the view that Oracle’s transition to subscription-based cloud offerings would take years, and this is probably still the case, but we see now substantially less risk of market-share deterioration during the transition phase. The bear case on Oracle continues to be a lack of traction in the cloud combined with declining on-premises license sales. We have not changed our estimates, but our new price contemplates an expanded multiple, one that is at par with the existing growth figures in which we now have more confidence.”

Continued Analyst Excitement Over Earnings

There have been several analyst upgrades since Oracle’s December 17 earnings release. The most recent report was the first earnings release since the departure of its CEO Larry Ellison. We are not surprised at this upgrade, as we view it as a delayed reaction to the company’s earnings results. We see ORCL as fairly valued as it is trading at just 14x 2015 earnings estimates.

Mutual Funds to Watch

Investors interested in ORCL may be interested in the funds listed below. These funds currently have the largest stakes in the company.

The Bottom Line

The funds above allow investors to gain exposure to Oracle while remaining diversified. Investors interested in Oracle may also be interested in Intel (INTC) and International Business Machines (IBM).