SiliconBeat

Oracle has decided to dedicate as much as $8 billion more to its stock repurchase program, raising the total available to it to $9.3 billion, according to a regulatory filing it made with the SEC today. The stock buyback is intended to help offset its employee stock plans as well as help it buy shares “opportunistically” — when they are selling at prices to low for the company to resist.

The company spent $7.14 billion buying back 24.1 million shares in its fiscal 2008 fourth quarter ended May 31, paying an average of $20.76 per shares. Oracle’s stock hit a 52-week low of $15.28 per share earlier this month. They gained $1.14, or 6.7 percent in regular trading Monday before the share repurchase was announced. They gained 29 cents, or 1.6 percent, more in after hours trading, according to Yahoo Finance.