Wellington Shields & Co. LLC Lowers Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Wellington Shields & Co. LLC decreased its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,112 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $519,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First National Trust Co raised its position in Oracle by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. First National Trust Co now owns 64,112 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $10,684,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Sienna Gestion raised its position in Oracle by 1,051.7% during the fourth quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 38,915 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $6,484,000 after purchasing an additional 35,536 shares in the last quarter. Hilton Capital Management LLC raised its position in Oracle by 2,049.7% during the fourth quarter. Hilton Capital Management LLC now owns 56,257 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $9,375,000 after purchasing an additional 53,640 shares in the last quarter. Carret Asset Management LLC raised its position in Oracle by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Carret Asset Management LLC now owns 115,052 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $19,172,000 after purchasing an additional 1,015 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Midwest Professional Planners LTD. raised its position in Oracle by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. now owns 22,351 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,725,000 after purchasing an additional 1,492 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total value of $64,050,487.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,565,931.52. The trade was a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on ORCL. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded Oracle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Oracle from $195.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Oracle from $194.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Oracle from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Oracle from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Oracle has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.71.

Oracle Stock Performance

Oracle stock opened at $149.36 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $165.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $169.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market cap of $417.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.52, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $112.78 and a fifty-two week high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.02). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The business had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.41 earnings per share. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. This is a positive change from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.12%.

Oracle 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.