Short Interest in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Declines By 22.9%

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 12,960,000 shares, a drop of 22.9% from the March 15th total of 16,810,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 8,880,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.5 days. Currently, 0.8% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Oracle Stock Down 1.0 %

ORCL stock traded down $1.23 during trading on Monday, hitting $119.88. 5,070,501 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,692,709. The firm has a market capitalization of $329.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.63, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.01. Oracle has a 1 year low of $93.29 and a 1 year high of $132.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.34. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $119.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $112.63.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.04. Oracle had a return on equity of 336.11% and a net margin of 20.27%. The business had revenue of $13.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.29 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.96 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Oracle will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ORCL. HSBC upped their price objective on Oracle from $144.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. KeyCorp began coverage on Oracle in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $150.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” 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 report on Tuesday, March 12th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.76.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total value of $99,966,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $141,546,631.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 149,699,321 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $15,782,799,000 after acquiring an additional 2,425,908 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 2.6% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 62,586,810 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $5,815,566,000 after purchasing an additional 1,570,528 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 20,502,544 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,675,878,000 after purchasing an additional 1,794,080 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Oracle by 3.5% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 18,718,180 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,982,630,000 after buying an additional 635,994 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its position in Oracle by 22.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,384,162 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,938,242,000 after buying an additional 3,323,334 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

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.