Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Sets New 1-Year High Following Dividend Announcement

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as $198.31 and last traded at $193.59, with a volume of 2825632 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $191.69.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Thursday, January 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 9th. Oracle’s payout ratio is presently 41.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ORCL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price 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. StockNews.com cut shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Melius Research upgraded shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Oracle presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.48.

Oracle Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $492.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 1.03. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $179.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $154.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 171.38% and a net margin of 20.40%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.34 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5.06 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Oracle news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $1,042,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,076,685. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 42.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 5.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $411,748,000 after purchasing an additional 121,874 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 15.3% in the second quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 24,800 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,502,000 after purchasing an additional 3,300 shares during the last quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp purchased a new stake in Oracle during the third quarter worth about $4,160,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Oracle by 79.6% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 286,460 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $48,813,000 after buying an additional 126,985 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Miura Global Management LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle during the third quarter worth about $1,704,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Company Profile

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.