Oracle Corporation $ORCL Stock Holdings Lowered by ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.

Key Points

• ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its stake in Oracle by 17.6%, selling 84,454 shares and leaving it with 394,449 shares worth about $110.94 million, making ORCL its second‑largest holding (3.9% of the firm's portfolio).
• Oracle topped EPS expectations ($2.26 vs. $1.64) with 14.2% revenue growth, but investor concerns about a $50B AI capex program, heavy recent selling and notable insider stock sales have raised near‑term execution and profitability risks.

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its holdings in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 17.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 394,449 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after selling 84,454 shares during the quarter. Oracle accounts for 3.9% of ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in Oracle were worth $110,935,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kampmann Melissa S. raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Kampmann Melissa S. now owns 11,910 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $3,350,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in Oracle by 0.7% during the third quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 5,319 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $1,551,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. raised its position in Oracle by 3.4% during the third quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 1,127 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $317,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Snider Financial Group lifted its holdings in Oracle by 1.3% in the second quarter. Snider Financial Group now owns 3,204 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $701,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, SNS Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Oracle by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. SNS Financial Group LLC now owns 4,896 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $1,070,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stores Impacting Oracle

Here are the key news stories impacting Oracle this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bullish view that Oracle is a leading AI provider with a large, expanding backlog and multi‑quarter data‑center buildout that could drive big revenue. Oracle: This Market Still Hasn’t Figured It Out—Oracle Is a Leading AI Provider
• Positive Sentiment: Investor letters and coverage highlighting Oracle’s embedded AI strategy and chip‑neutral positioning argue for durable enterprise demand and a multi‑year growth runway. What Makes Oracle (ORCL) a Strong Investment?
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts note explosive cloud growth from AI infrastructure but flag a large $50B capex program and near‑term negative free cash flow — growth potential is real but profitability/DCF risk has risen. Is ORCL Stock Poised for Growth Amid Rising AI Infrastructure Demand?
• Neutral Sentiment: The Oracle‑led group taking control of TikTok U.S. operations presents a potential new revenue stream but adds regulatory and integration uncertainty. China Urges US To Work In The 'Same Direction' As ByteDance Hands Over Control Of TikTok's Operations To Oracle‑Led Group
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple outlets report Wall Street worry over Oracle’s aggressive AI spending, Q2 misses and uncertainty about its ability to deliver server farms for OpenAI — these concerns have driven heavy selling pressure this quarter. Why Oracle's AI Spending Spree Is Spooking Wall Street
• Negative Sentiment: Major outlets (CNBC, NYPost) note ORCL is on pace for its worst quarterly decline since 2001 as investors question execution and OpenAI dependency — heightened downside risk near term. Oracle shares on pace for worst quarter since 2001 as new CEOs face concerns about AI buildout
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst commentary highlights Oracle’s success is tied to OpenAI’s spending and balance‑sheet — increased counterparty risk if OpenAI pulls back. Oracle's success will be directly tied to OpenAI's financial strength, says Jefferies' Brent Thill
• Negative Sentiment: Insider/insider‑adjacent selling: CEO disclosed a nearly $2M stock sale, which some investors view as a negative signal amid the selloff. Oracle NYSE: ORCL CEO Sells $1,925,200.00 in Stock

Oracle Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $198.00 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $568.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.66. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $224.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $242.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.28. Oracle Corporation has a 52-week low of $118.86 and a 52-week high of $345.72.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.62. Oracle had a net margin of 25.28% and a return on equity of 70.60%. The firm had revenue of $16.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.47 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Oracle Corporation will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 9th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Oracle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ORCL. Baird R W raised shares of Oracle to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Monday. Oppenheimer reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Melius Research raised their target price on Oracle from $270.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $307.72.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other news, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,223 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.61, for a total transaction of $437,064.03. Following the transaction, the director owned 25,596 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,032,429.56. The trade was a 7.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Maria Smith sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.62, for a total transaction of $1,403,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 47,083 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,212,431.46. This represents a 9.60% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 131,346 shares of company stock valued at $36,129,646. 40.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Oracle

Oracle Corporation is a multinational technology company that develops and sells database software, cloud engineered systems, enterprise software applications and related services. The company is widely known for its flagship Oracle Database and a portfolio of enterprise-grade software products that support data management, application development, analytics and middleware. Over recent years Oracle has expanded its focus to include cloud infrastructure and cloud applications, positioning itself as a provider of both platform and software-as-a-service solutions for large organizations.

Oracle's product and service offerings include Oracle Database and the Autonomous Database, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), enterprise resource planning (ERP), human capital management (HCM) and supply chain management (SCM) cloud applications (often grouped under Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications), middleware such as WebLogic, and developer technologies including Java and MySQL.

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