Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Plans $0.40 Quarterly Dividend

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, December 10th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a dividend of 0.40 per share by the enterprise software provider on Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 9th.

Oracle has increased its dividend by an average of 16.6% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 15 consecutive years. Oracle has a payout ratio of 22.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Oracle to earn $5.75 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 27.8%.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $177.34 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $491.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.81, a PEG ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50-day moving average of $179.76 and a 200-day moving average of $154.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Oracle has a fifty-two week low of $99.26 and a fifty-two week high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a return on equity of 171.38% and a net margin of 20.40%. The business had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.34 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Oracle will post 5.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Oracle news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $1,042,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,076,685. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ORCL. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.48.

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.