Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Short Interest Down 11.8% in February

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 24,000,000 shares, a decline of 11.8% from the January 31st total of 27,220,000 shares. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 10,650,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.3 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ORCL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $182.73.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total value of $389,448,893.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,331,027.20. The trade was a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oracle

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Activest Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Oracle by 21.9% during the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 312 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Second Line Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Oracle by 1.5% during the third quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 3,816 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $650,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Cadence Bank boosted its holdings in Oracle by 0.8% during the third quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 7,605 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,296,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Oracle by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC now owns 2,240 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $373,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Oracle by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 1,423 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Down 6.7 %

Shares of NYSE:ORCL opened at $150.69 on Friday. Oracle has a 52 week low of $111.18 and a 52 week high of $198.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $421.48 billion, a PE ratio of 36.84, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $167.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $168.97.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The firm had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.34 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Oracle will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is 39.12%.

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.