Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of 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 daily trading volume, of 7,920,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.4 days. Approximately 1.2% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were 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 directly 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 link. In other Oracle news, Director George H. Conrades sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.00, for a total value of $2,320,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,836 shares in the company, valued at $2,068,976. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.30, for a total transaction of $34,042,967.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,626,764 shares in the company, valued at $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 three months. 42.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 39.8% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 7,991 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $846,000 after acquiring an additional 2,276 shares during the last quarter. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 23.8% in the 3rd quarter. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 3,042 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $322,000 after acquiring an additional 585 shares during the last quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 28.8% in the 3rd quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,942 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $841,000 after acquiring an additional 1,777 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 856,551 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $90,726,000 after acquiring an additional 140,855 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 48,633 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $5,151,000 after acquiring an additional 921 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of ORCL traded up $1.02 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $141.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 25,814,821 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,264,646. The company has a market cap of $389.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.06, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.25, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $125.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $118.08. Oracle has a 52-week low of $99.26 and a 52-week high of $145.32.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $14.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.57 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 223.01% and a net margin of 19.76%. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.35 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Oracle will post 5.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 11th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 11th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.13%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on ORCL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. HSBC raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $144.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $144.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $145.83.

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.