Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Up 42.7% After Dividend Announcement

Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) shot up 42.7% during trading on Wednesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $341.23 and last traded at $344.60. 58,304,020 shares changed hands 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. Investors of record on Thursday, October 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 9th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is 46.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ORCL. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $220.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Oracle from $250.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, June 12th. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Oracle from $280.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $291.23.

Oracle Stock Up 36.0%

The company has a market cap of $922.41 billion, a PE ratio of 76.02, a PEG ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 1.46. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $242.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $188.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.06. Oracle had a net margin of 21.08% and a return on equity of 80.42%. The company had revenue of $15.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Oracle Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Oracle news, Director Rona Alison Fairhead acquired 480 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $233.87 per share, with a total value of $112,257.60. Following the purchase, the director owned 22,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,170,865.70. This trade represents a 2.22% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Michael D. Sicilia sold 15,880 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.48, for a total transaction of $4,041,142.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 99,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,247,469.76. This trade represents a 13.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 44,183 shares of company stock worth $10,353,198 in the last ninety days. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oracle

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Oracle during the 2nd quarter valued at $4,275,378,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle during the 1st quarter valued at $732,692,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 15,012.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,755,096 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $664,810,000 after purchasing an additional 4,723,631 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,925,413 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $22,498,982,000 after purchasing an additional 3,513,464 shares during the period. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 2nd quarter worth about $731,512,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.