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

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This is a 25.0% increase from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40.

Oracle has raised its dividend by an average of 7.7% annually over the last three years. Oracle has a payout ratio of 24.6% 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 $2.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 35.7%.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE ORCL opened at $127.03 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $355.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.06, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $159.43 and a 200 day moving average of $169.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. Oracle has a twelve month low of $112.78 and a twelve month high of $198.31.

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

Insider Activity at Oracle

In related news, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.81, for a total transaction of $291,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 34,630 shares in the company, valued at $5,049,400.30. The trade was a 5.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,565,931.52. This represents a 23.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,448,328 shares of company stock valued at $453,791,001 over the last 90 days. 42.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Oracle stock. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 8.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 5,418 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $903,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on ORCL. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price objective on Oracle from $214.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Oracle from $212.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Oracle from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Oracle presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.65.

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.