Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Up 3% - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Oracle shares rose 3% to $158.65 amid enthusiasm over its expanding AI infrastructure partnership with Hewlett Packard Enterprise, strong cloud backlog and expectations for sustained AI-driven growth.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $261.68, though some firms cite concerns about capital spending, leverage, cash burn and earnings quality.
• Oracle’s upcoming earnings report is a major near-term catalyst: options imply a potential move of about 11% or more, with investors focused on cloud growth, backlog conversion, spending, cash flow and fiscal 2027 guidance.

Shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) rose 3% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $159.70 and last traded at $158.65. 26,127,163 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 9% from the average session volume of 28,719,047 shares. The stock had previously closed at $154.04.

Trending Headlines about Oracle

Here are the key news stories impacting Oracle this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Oracle’s expanded, multi-year agreement with Hewlett Packard Enterprise to deploy HPE Juniper networking equipment across its global AI data centers reinforces the scale of Oracle’s infrastructure buildout. HPE also granted Oracle warrants to purchase more than 4 million HPE shares at a nominal exercise price, aligning the companies’ interests. HPE and Oracle Deepen Networking Collaboration to Accelerate Gigawatt-Scale AI Infrastructure
• Positive Sentiment: Investor optimism is also being supported by Oracle’s cloud backlog, expected cloud growth of roughly 58%–64%, and expectations that AI demand can drive durable revenue growth. Some analysts remain bullish, with Jefferies maintaining a Buy rating and a $290 target despite reducing its estimate. Oracle Stock Could Be Software’s Next Big Winner
• Positive Sentiment: Oracle’s stock has benefited from broader enthusiasm for beaten-down software companies and positive comparisons with strong AI-related results from Snowflake. Investor attention following OpenAI’s Astra release has also added to enthusiasm around Oracle’s AI ecosystem. Oracle Stock Climbs Ahead of Earnings After OpenAI Astra Release
• Neutral Sentiment: Oracle reports results after the market closes on September 10. Options markets imply a potential move of approximately 11% or more, making cloud growth, backlog conversion, capital expenditures, cash flow and fiscal 2027 guidance the main near-term catalysts. Oracle Stock Could Swing 11%+ on Q1 Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: RBC reaffirmed a Sector Perform rating while assigning a $190 price target, signaling potential upside but limited conviction ahead of earnings. Oracle Analyst Rating Update
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst expectations remain divided. One fair-value estimate was trimmed to $241.97 from $248.15 because of concerns about funding requirements, elevated capital expenditures, leverage and pressure on earnings quality. Reports also highlight approximately $23.7 billion in cash burn and major workforce reductions, increasing execution risk. Oracle Stock Gets Fair Value Trim

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on ORCL shares. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Wedbush lowered their price target on shares of Oracle from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Finally, KeyCorp reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Oracle has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $261.68.

Oracle Trading Up 3.0%

The firm has a market cap of $456.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.74. The company's 50-day moving average price is $139.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $160.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $2.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.15. Oracle had a net margin of 25.37% and a return on equity of 58.62%. The firm had revenue of $19.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.70 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. Oracle has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.720-1.760 EPS and its FY 2027 guidance at 8.050-8.050 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Oracle Corporation will post 6.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 24th. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. Oracle's dividend payout ratio is currently 34.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Oracle news, Vice Chairman Jeffrey Henley sold 400,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $63,664,000. This trade represents a 50.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 40.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

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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