Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Short Interest Update

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

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other news, Director Michael J. Boskin sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.74, for a total transaction of $5,298,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 87,473 shares in the company, valued at $10,299,071.02. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,626,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $379,042,045.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Michael J. Boskin sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.74, for a total value of $5,298,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 87,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,299,071.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 385,639 shares of company stock worth $53,002,729 in the last three months. 42.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Contour Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Oracle by 41.5% during the 4th quarter. Contour Asset Management LLC now owns 2,192,950 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $231,203,000 after purchasing an additional 643,490 shares during the period. Sandy Spring Bank lifted its stake in Oracle by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 78,049 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $8,229,000 after acquiring an additional 1,107 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp increased its position in Oracle by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 29,301 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,089,000 after purchasing an additional 3,291 shares during the period. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 5,986 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $631,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Heritage Wealth Advisors increased its holdings in Oracle by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 16,995 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,792,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ORCL has been the subject of a number of research reports. William Blair upgraded Oracle from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Oracle from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Oracle from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $145.83.

Oracle Price Performance

Oracle stock opened at $143.09 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.25. Oracle has a 12-month low of $99.26 and a 12-month high of $145.32. The firm has a market capitalization 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. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $125.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $118.19.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.35 EPS. Oracle’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Oracle will post 5.01 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 11th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 11th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.13%.

About Oracle

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.