Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Increases Dividend to $0.50 Per Share

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, March 10th, RTT News reports. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. This is a 25.0% increase from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40.

Oracle has raised its dividend payment by an average of 7.7% annually over the last three years. Oracle has a payout ratio of 19.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research 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 Price Performance

Shares of Oracle stock traded down $6.29 on Monday, hitting $148.87. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 20,463,230 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,807,678. The company has a market capitalization of $416.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. Oracle has a 1 year low of $111.18 and a 1 year high of $198.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $167.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $169.51.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced 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). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The company had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.34 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Oracle will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on ORCL shares. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. UBS Group upped their target price on Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lowered shares of Oracle to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total value of $64,050,487.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,565,931.52. This trade represents a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle

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

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.