Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Down 4.1% – What’s Next?

Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) shares dropped 4.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $215.22 and last traded at $217.68. Approximately 29,336,314 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 89% from the average daily volume of 15,557,683 shares. The stock had previously closed at $226.99.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on ORCL. UBS Group upped their price objective on Oracle from $360.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $271.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. BNP Paribas set a $377.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. BMO Capital Markets set a $355.00 price objective on shares of Oracle and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Berenberg Bank raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $202.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Oracle presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $323.69.

Oracle Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $635.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.59, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.33. The business’s 50 day moving average is $279.59 and its 200-day moving average is $233.78.

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

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 9th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 9th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Oracle’s payout ratio is presently 46.30%.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,222 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.91, for a total transaction of $641,958.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 29,225 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,443,394.75. This represents a 7.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Jeffrey Berg sold 49,365 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 151,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,018,756.98. This represents a 24.52% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 204,254 shares of company stock valued at $60,227,807. Corporate insiders own 40.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oracle

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Oracle during the second quarter worth $4,275,378,000. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Oracle by 2,062.4% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 9,227,252 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,595,072,000 after purchasing an additional 8,800,546 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the first quarter valued at about $732,692,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 168,960,500 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $47,518,451,000 after purchasing an additional 4,681,626 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 333.7% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,238,006 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,473,137,000 after purchasing an additional 4,030,382 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Oracle

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.