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

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 15,670,000 shares, an increase of 19.8% from the April 15th total of 13,080,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 8,230,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.9 days. Approximately 1.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total transaction of $99,966,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $141,546,631.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total transaction of $99,966,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company's stock, valued at $141,546,631.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Michael J. Boskin sold 45,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 87,473 shares in the company, valued at $10,299,071.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 880,000 shares of company stock valued at $110,488,150. 42.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Westend Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Oracle in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE grew its position in Oracle by 298.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 243 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management bought a new position in Oracle in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Tidemark LLC bought a new position in Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company's stock.

Oracle Stock Up 0.6 %

Oracle stock traded up $0.76 on Wednesday, hitting $121.63. 6,599,646 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,151,612. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.34. The firm has a market cap of $334.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.03. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $120.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $114.12. Oracle has a 1 year low of $96.92 and a 1 year high of $132.77.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $13.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.29 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 336.11% and a net margin of 20.27%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.96 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Oracle will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 9th. Oracle's dividend payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ORCL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. HSBC boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $144.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. William Blair upgraded shares of Oracle from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $126.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Oracle has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $130.76.

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.

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