Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Trading Down 1.8% After Analyst Downgrade

Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) shares dropped 1.8% during mid-day trading on Friday after Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on the stock from $190.00 to $165.00. Royal Bank Of Canada currently has a sector perform rating on the stock. Oracle traded as low as $149.84 and last traded at $150.1320. 78,146,844 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 168% from the average daily volume of 29,182,564 shares. The stock had previously closed at $152.94.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on ORCL. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. UBS Group restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Friday, August 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $207.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 4th. Moffett Nathanson set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $285.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $256.05.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other Oracle news, Vice Chairman Jeffrey Henley sold 400,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.16, for a total value of $63,664,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 400,000 shares in the company, valued at $63,664,000. The trade was a 50.00% 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. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 40.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Oracle

Here are the key news stories impacting Oracle this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Oracle exceeded fiscal Q1 expectations, reporting adjusted EPS of $1.92 versus $1.74 expected and revenue of approximately $19.35 billion versus $19.13 billion. Revenue increased nearly 30% year over year. Surging cloud revenue boosted Oracle’s quarterly results
• Positive Sentiment: Cloud infrastructure revenue surged 121% to about $7.4 billion, demonstrating that demand for AI computing is converting into reported sales. Cloud revenue overall rose 62%, while remaining performance obligations expanded to a record $664 billion. Oracle Stock Rises After Solid Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Management raised its fiscal 2027 outlook to at least $90 billion in revenue and $8.10 in adjusted EPS. Analysts viewed the quarter as evidence that Oracle’s AI investments are beginning to monetize, with customer prepayments and contracts helping support expansion. Oracle Q1 Earnings Call Centers on AI Capacity and Raised Outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts maintained bullish ratings, including DA Davidson at $225 and Cantor Fitzgerald at $284. Heavy call-option activity also indicates traders are positioning for additional upside.
• Neutral Sentiment: Oracle is bringing roughly 850 megawatts of new data-center capacity online, but its Financial Analyst Day will be important for clarifying returns on capital, financing needs and the timing of positive free cash flow.
• Negative Sentiment: Capital spending remains the main concern. Oracle has maintained a fiscal 2027 capital-expenditure forecast of roughly $90 billion to $95 billion, while reported free cash flow remained negative. The company also sold $20 billion of stock, highlighting funding pressure.
• Negative Sentiment: Some data-center projects face delays, including a New Mexico facility affected by a stalled gas pipeline. RBC lowered its price target to $165, and BMO reduced its target to $195, reflecting caution about leverage, execution and cash-flow recovery.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the third quarter worth $28,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC grew its stake in Oracle by 76.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 115 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Turning Point Benefit Group Inc. purchased a new position in Oracle during the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. HFM Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Oracle by 290.9% during the 4th quarter. HFM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Basepoint Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Oracle Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21. The company has a market capitalization of $432.45 billion, a PE ratio of 25.75, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.74. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $140.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $160.46.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.18. Oracle had a return on equity of 58.62% and a net margin of 25.37%.The business had revenue of $19.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.47 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 29.6% on a year-over-year basis. Oracle has set its Q2 2027 guidance at 1.850-1.930 EPS and its FY 2027 guidance at 8.100-8.100 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Oracle Corporation will post 6.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 9th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 9th. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 34.31%.

About Oracle

Oracle Corporation is a global enterprise technology company that develops and provides database software, cloud infrastructure, business applications and related technology services. Its offerings help organizations manage data, run applications, support business operations and build technology environments across on-premises, hybrid and cloud-based settings.

The company’s products include Oracle Database, MySQL, Java, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure and a broad portfolio of cloud applications for enterprise resource planning, financial management, human resources, supply chain management, customer experience and industry-specific operations.