Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 19,380,000 shares, an increase of 27.5% from the May 31st total of 15,200,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 7,920,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.4 days. Currently, 1.2% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ORCL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Oracle from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. StockNews.com downgraded Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. William Blair upgraded Oracle from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. Mizuho upped their price target on Oracle from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $175.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $145.83.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.30, for a total transaction of $34,042,967.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 2,626,764 shares in the company, valued at $379,042,045.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director George H. Conrades sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.13, for a total transaction of $2,903,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 17,836 shares in the company, valued at $2,071,294.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.30, for a total value of $34,042,967.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 2,626,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $379,042,045.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 385,639 shares of company stock worth $53,002,729 over the last quarter. 42.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Oracle by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 151,213,890 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $18,993,977,000 after acquiring an additional 1,514,569 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Oracle by 0.4% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,466,713 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,319,604,000 after acquiring an additional 82,551 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its stake in Oracle by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 14,599,902 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,539,268,000 after acquiring an additional 2,191,342 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in Oracle by 148.8% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 12,872,300 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,616,855,000 after acquiring an additional 7,699,141 shares during the period. Finally, Putnam Investments LLC lifted its stake in Oracle by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 12,339,385 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,300,941,000 after acquiring an additional 697,961 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Price Performance

NYSE ORCL opened at $143.09 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $394.34 billion, a PE ratio of 38.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.02. Oracle has a 52 week low of $99.26 and a 52 week high of $145.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.25. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $125.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $118.19.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.02). Oracle had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 223.01%. The business had revenue of $14.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.57 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.35 earnings per share. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Oracle will post 5.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 11th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 11th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is 43.13%.

Oracle Company Profile

Oracle Corporation offers products and services that address enterprise information technology environments worldwide. Its Oracle cloud software as a service offering include various cloud software applications, including Oracle Fusion cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP), Oracle Fusion cloud enterprise performance management, Oracle Fusion cloud supply chain and manufacturing management, Oracle Fusion cloud human capital management, Oracle Cerner healthcare, Oracle Advertising, and NetSuite applications suite, as well as Oracle Fusion Sales, Service, and Marketing.