Oracle Co. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.40 (NYSE:ORCL)

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, December 10th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a dividend of 0.40 per share by the enterprise software provider on Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 9th.

Oracle has raised its dividend by an average of 16.6% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 15 consecutive years. Oracle has a dividend payout ratio of 22.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Oracle to earn $5.75 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 27.8%.

Oracle Trading Down 0.2 %

ORCL opened at $177.34 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $179.76 and a 200-day moving average of $154.67. The stock has a market cap of $491.42 billion, a PE ratio of 45.81, a PEG ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 1.03. Oracle has a 52 week low of $99.26 and a 52 week high of $198.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.34 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Oracle will post 5.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $1,042,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,889 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,076,685. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 42.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ORCL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Oracle from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Melius upgraded Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Oracle from $201.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Oracle from $157.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Oracle from $160.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Oracle has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.48.

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.