Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL – Get Rating) was the target of a large growth in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 15,440,000 shares, a growth of 17.3% from the June 30th total of 13,160,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 8,240,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days. Approximately 1.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ORCL. BNP Paribas upgraded Oracle from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $90.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 29th. Cowen dropped their target price on Oracle from $107.00 to $98.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $110.00 target price on Oracle in a research report on Monday, June 20th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Oracle from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 20th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt dropped their target price on Oracle from $126.00 to $113.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $88.95.

Oracle Stock Performance

ORCL opened at $77.40 on Friday. Oracle has a 52-week low of $63.76 and a 52-week high of $106.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $206.27 billion, a PE ratio of 32.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.87. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $71.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.63.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 12th were issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 11th. Oracle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 980,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.80, for a total transaction of $68,404,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $78,077,721.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Edward Screven sold 419,174 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.22, for a total transaction of $29,015,224.28. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 2,492,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $172,538,671.86. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Safra Catz sold 980,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.80, for a total value of $68,404,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $78,077,721.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,399,174 shares of company stock valued at $232,369,224 in the last quarter. 39.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oracle

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 23.0% during the first quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 119,115 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $9,854,000 after purchasing an additional 22,272 shares in the last quarter. PM CAPITAL Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 11.2% during the first quarter. PM CAPITAL Ltd now owns 217,870 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $18,024,000 after purchasing an additional 21,950 shares in the last quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC bought a new position in Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,992,000. New England Research & Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Oracle by 6.3% in the first quarter. New England Research & Management Inc. now owns 3,534 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $292,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the period. Finally, Ziegler Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Oracle by 9.5% in the first quarter. Ziegler Capital Management LLC now owns 5,137 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $425,000 after acquiring an additional 446 shares during the period. 42.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Oracle Company Profile

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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.

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