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

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, December 9th,Wall Street Journal 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th.

Oracle has raised 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 22.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Oracle to earn $5.65 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 28.3%.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of ORCL opened at $161.96 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $452.99 billion, a PE ratio of 39.60, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.06. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $178.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $160.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Oracle has a 1 year low of $102.13 and a 1 year high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted 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 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The business had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.34 earnings per share. Oracle’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Oracle will post 5.03 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup upped their price objective on Oracle from $157.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Guggenheim upped their price target on Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Oracle currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.48.

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.