Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Trading Down 2% on Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• Oracle shares fell about 2% after Erste Group cut the rating from buy to hold, trading as low as $228.89 and finishing around $235.95 on a mid-day volume surge of ~31% above average.
• Despite the downgrade, several analysts raised price targets (e.g., Guggenheim to $400, Piper Sandler to $380, BofA upgraded to buy) and the consensus remains a "Moderate Buy" with a consensus target of $323.69.
• Insiders have sold 204,254 shares (~$60.2M) in the past three months, even as large institutions like Norges Bank, Jennison, Nuveen, and Vanguard added or increased stakes, signaling mixed insider versus institutional flows.

Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report)'s share price was down 2% on Tuesday after Erste Group Bank downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a hold rating. The company traded as low as $228.89 and last traded at $235.95. Approximately 20,312,798 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 31% from the average daily volume of 15,470,663 shares. The stock had previously closed at $240.83.

ORCL has been the topic of several other research reports. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Stephens raised their target price on Oracle from $208.00 to $331.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Oracle from $363.00 to $364.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Oracle from $330.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Oracle from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $295.00 to $368.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $323.69.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Maria Smith sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.62, for a total value of $1,403,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 47,083 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,212,431.46. This represents a 9.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Jeffrey Berg sold 49,365 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.02, for a total value of $13,971,282.30. Following the sale, the director owned 151,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,018,756.98. This trade represents a 24.52% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 204,254 shares of company stock valued at $60,227,807 in the last three months. 40.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Oracle in the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,275,378,000. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Oracle by 2,062.4% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 9,227,252 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $2,595,072,000 after purchasing an additional 8,800,546 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle in the 1st quarter valued at $732,692,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Oracle by 2.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 168,960,500 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $47,518,451,000 after purchasing an additional 4,681,626 shares during the period. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new position in Oracle in the second quarter valued at about $731,512,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Oracle Stock Down 2.0%

The stock has a market capitalization of $672.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.51. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $279.62 and a 200 day moving average of $232.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.33.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $14.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.04 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 72.93% and a net margin of 21.08%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.39 EPS. Oracle has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 1.270-1.310 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Oracle Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 9th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 9th. Oracle's payout ratio is 46.30%.

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.

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