Oracle Co. (ORCL) to Distribute Quarterly Dividend of $0.40 on January 9th

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, December 9th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be paid a dividend of 0.40 per share by the enterprise software provider on Thursday, January 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%.

Oracle has increased its dividend payment 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% indicating that 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 Down 6.7 %

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $177.74 on Wednesday. Oracle has a 52-week low of $99.26 and a 52-week high of $198.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The business has a fifty day moving average of $179.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $154.67. The stock has a market cap of $492.53 billion, a PE ratio of 45.81, a PEG ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 1.03.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its 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). Oracle had a return on equity of 171.38% and a net margin of 20.40%. The business had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.34 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Oracle will post 5.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In related news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $1,042,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares in the company, valued at $7,076,685. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on ORCL. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. 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 report on Thursday, December 5th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.