Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Announces Dividend Increase – $0.50 Per Share

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, March 10th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of 0.50 per share by the enterprise software provider on Wednesday, April 23rd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This is a 25.0% increase from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40.

Oracle has increased its dividend payment by an average of 7.7% per year over the last three years. Oracle has a dividend payout ratio of 19.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Oracle to earn $5.61 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 28.5%.

Oracle Trading Down 3.0 %

Oracle stock opened at $144.29 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $403.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.28, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. Oracle has a one year low of $112.78 and a one year high of $198.31. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $166.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $169.62.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.41 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Oracle will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ORCL shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded shares of Oracle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their target price on shares of Oracle from $214.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.92.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total transaction of $389,448,893.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,331,027.20. This trade represents a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Oracle stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 189.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 153,580 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 100,494 shares during the quarter. Oracle accounts for 0.7% of Brighton Jones LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $25,593,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.