Oracle (ORCL) To Buy Ad Verification Software Maker MOAT

Oracle Corp. (NYSE:ORCL) recently announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Moat, “the fastest growing digital measurement cloud company.” The company noted that Moat’s attention analytics business has grown over 100% in the last year and currently serves almost 600 clients.

However, the announcement did not have much impact on investors and the stock gained a mere 0.52% on Tuesday.

We note that Oracle has underperformed the Zacks Computer - Software industry in the last one year. While the industry gained 17.8%, the stock increased only 8.5%.

The underperformance of the stock could be due to short-term headwinds, resulting from the transition to the cloud from its on-premise licensing business model.

Moat Expands Oracle Data Cloud Capability

Moat offers analytics software that measures the popularity of the advertisements of brands. According to The Wall Street Journal, the company works with big brands such as Nestle, Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) and Unilever (LON:ULVR) to measure and track their online ads across various platforms like Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) , YouTube and Snapchat.

Oracle Corporation Revenue (TTM)

Oracle Corporation Revenue (TTM) | Oracle Corporation Quote

Notably, the complete team of Moat will join Oracle but it will continue to operate as an independent platform within Oracle Data Cloud.

Oracle Data Cloud does a comprehensive analysis of consumer behavior and stores the relevant information for better understanding of taste and preference. Companies can target the right customers by keeping a track of their behavior.

The acquisition expands Oracle Data Cloud’s capability to provide immaculate data to brands and publishers that will help in improving ad viewability and effectiveness.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Oracle carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

A better-ranked stock in the broader technology space is DST Systems, Inc. (NYSE:DST) , sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

DST Systems’ long-term growth is projected to be 10%.

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