Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Raises Dividend to $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 1.34%. 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 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

NYSE:ORCL traded down $6.29 on Monday, reaching $148.87. 20,463,230 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,807,678. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $167.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $169.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. Oracle has a 12 month low of $111.18 and a 12 month high of $198.31. The firm has a market cap of $416.38 billion, a PE ratio of 36.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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). 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 the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.34 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Oracle will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total transaction of $64,050,487.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,565,931.52. This represents a 23.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Oracle stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 189.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 153,580 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 100,494 shares during the quarter. Oracle accounts for about 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 SEC filing. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $182.73.

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.