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

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, December 10th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given 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 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 raised its dividend every year for the last 15 years. Oracle has a dividend 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 Stock Performance

ORCL traded down $12.71 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $177.74. 26,095,552 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,380,413. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68. The company’s 50-day moving average is $179.76 and its 200 day moving average is $154.67. Oracle has a 52 week low of $99.26 and a 52 week high of $198.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $492.53 billion, a PE ratio of 45.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 1.03.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.34 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Oracle will post 5.06 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other Oracle news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares in the company, valued at $7,076,685. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ORCL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $201.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.