Wellington Wealth Strategies LLC. Sells 2,359 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Wellington Wealth Strategies LLC. reduced its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 13.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,141 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 2,359 shares during the quarter. Oracle makes up about 2.5% of Wellington Wealth Strategies LLC.’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Wellington Wealth Strategies LLC.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $2,632,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 157,411,949 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $26,231,127,000 after acquiring an additional 2,296,069 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,002,902 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $6,332,803,000 after acquiring an additional 156,269 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,814,302 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $5,954,961,000 after acquiring an additional 619,619 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,202,421 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,366,531,000 after acquiring an additional 1,722,037 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 19,620,534 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,269,566,000 after acquiring an additional 2,176,892 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $145.00 price objective on shares of Oracle and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Oracle from $212.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price objective on shares of Oracle from $214.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Westpark Capital started coverage on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $195.00 price objective on the stock. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.42.

Oracle Price Performance

ORCL opened at $159.46 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $446.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.99, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $143.08 and a 200 day moving average of $162.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $114.55 and a fifty-two week high of $198.31.

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

Oracle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.95%.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 17,500 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.24, for a total value of $2,646,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 58,090 shares in the company, valued at $8,785,531.60. This trade represents a 23.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.81, for a total transaction of $291,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 34,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,049,400.30. The trade was a 5.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,366 shares of company stock worth $4,015,723 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

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.