Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Stock Price Up 42.7% Following Dividend Announcement

Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) shares traded up 42.7% during trading on Wednesday after the company announced a dividend. The company traded as high as $341.23 and last traded at $344.60. 58,304,020 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 373% from the average session volume of 12,320,553 shares. The stock had previously closed at $241.51.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Thursday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 9th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 9th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Oracle’s payout ratio is presently 46.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Oracle from $325.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Guggenheim boosted their target price on Oracle from $250.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $195.00 target price (up previously from $145.00) on shares of Oracle in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Barclays boosted their target price on Oracle from $221.00 to $281.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group set a $300.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $296.84.

Oracle Stock Down 6.3%

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $243.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $189.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $864.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.91 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.33, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $15.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.58 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.08% and a return on equity of 72.93%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.63 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Oracle Corporation will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Oracle news, Director Rona Alison Fairhead purchased 480 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $233.87 per share, for a total transaction of $112,257.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 22,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,170,865.70. This trade represents a 2.22% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Clayton M. Magouyrk sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.10, for a total transaction of $3,211,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 60,722 shares in the company, valued at $13,000,580.20. This represents a 19.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 44,183 shares of company stock valued at $10,353,198. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Oracle by 2.1% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 164,278,874 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $35,916,290,000 after acquiring an additional 3,353,461 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,459,391 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $16,060,427,000 after purchasing an additional 1,252,723 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 19,741,423 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,760,048,000 after purchasing an additional 120,889 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Oracle in the 2nd quarter valued at $4,275,378,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 13,884,524 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,941,195,000 after purchasing an additional 59,164 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

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.