Tech company Oracle (ORCL) has agreed to pay $115 million to settle a lawsuit accusing it of collecting and selling personal information without consent, according to Reuters. The preliminary settlement, filed in San Francisco federal court, still requires a judge’s approval. In addition, Oracle denies any wrongdoing. Investors seem to be pleased by this development, as shares gained so far in trading.
The plaintiffs claim Oracle violated privacy laws by creating unauthorized “digital dossiers” on hundreds of millions of people, tracking their online activities, shopping habits, and more. The company then allegedly sold this data to marketers. The settlement, which covers data collected since August 19, 2018, includes terms preventing Oracle from gathering certain user-generated information from external URLs.
Investor Sentiment for ORCL Stock
The sentiment among TipRanks investors is currently positive. Out of the 746,050 portfolios tracked by TipRanks, 1.2% hold ORCL stock. In addition, the average portfolio weighting allocated towards ORCL among those who do have a position is 4.23%. This suggests that investors of the company are fairly confident about its future.
Furthermore, in the last 30 days, 3.5% of those holding the stock increased their positions. As a result, the stock’s sentiment is above the sector average, as demonstrated in the following image:
What Is the Future of ORCL Stock?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on ORCL stock based on 14 Buys, 13 Holds, and zero Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 22% rally in its share price over the past year, the average ORCL price target of $149.35 per share implies 7.33% upside potential.
