Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL – Get Rating) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 13,120,000 shares, a decrease of 21.4% from the September 15th total of 16,700,000 shares. Approximately 0.9% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 7,580,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.7 days.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several research analysts recently issued reports on ORCL shares. Barclays set a $82.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, September 15th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $80.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, September 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 20th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Oracle from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 29th. Finally, Societe Generale dropped their target price on shares of Oracle to $91.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $88.67.
Oracle Stock Performance
NYSE ORCL traded down $0.89 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $64.31. 8,045,062 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,143,858. Oracle has a 1-year low of $60.78 and a 1-year high of $106.34. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $71.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $173.39 billion, a PE ratio of 30.62, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.94.
Oracle (NYSE:ORCL – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, September 12th. The enterprise software provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $11.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.44 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 13.15% and a negative return on equity of 161.07%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.87 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Oracle will post 4.12 EPS for the current year.
Oracle Dividend Announcement
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 12th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 11th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.95%.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle
Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,041 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $417,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the period. RMB Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. RMB Capital Management LLC now owns 18,863 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,318,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Eukles Asset Management raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Eukles Asset Management now owns 35,213 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,460,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. Family Legacy Inc. raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Family Legacy Inc. now owns 34,873 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,455,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. Finally, St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 15,887 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,110,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.92% 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 Advertising, and NetSuite applications suite, as well as Oracle Fusion Sales, Service, and Marketing.