Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Down 1.2% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) were down 1.2% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $194.73 and last traded at $194.87. Approximately 10,203,728 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 41% from the average daily volume of 17,421,828 shares. The stock had previously closed at $197.21.

Key Oracle News

Here are the key news stories impacting Oracle this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and bulls highlight Oracle’s AI/OCI push and potential from a large OpenAI partnership that could drive substantial revenue growth if execution goes right. Oracle Stock in 5 Years: Moonshot or Crash Landing?
• Positive Sentiment: Fund/analyst conviction remains visible: multiple research houses have issued buy/upgraded targets and MarketBeat/industry pieces continue to flag Oracle as a potential AI/data‑center beneficiary. MarketBeat Oracle Coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Broad market tone is weak to start the session (U.S. futures lower), a headwind for big‑cap tech names including ORCL. U.S. Stock Futures in Red
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro / market narrative shift from Warren Buffett’s retirement is creating broader investor repositioning today — market commentary is dominating headlines rather than company‑specific catalysts. Warren Buffett Bids Adieu
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: Oracle senior exec Mark Hura sold 15,000 shares (Dec. 24 filing), a visible Form 4 that can amplify near‑term selling pressure even if it’s not material to the company’s fundamentals. SEC Form 4
• Negative Sentiment: Execution and balance‑sheet concerns: coverage warns that aggressive AI/data‑center capex and elevated debt/covenant focus increase risk if growth or margins miss expectations. That narrative is pressuring sentiment after the recent pullback. Oracle’s Comeback Is Real, But Greatness Is Still Uncertain

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ORCL shares. Redburn Partners set a $175.00 price objective on Oracle in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Melius Research boosted their target price on Oracle from $270.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Oracle from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Oracle from $380.00 to $290.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their target price on Oracle from $400.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $307.72.

Oracle Stock Down 1.2%

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $221.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $243.19. The company has a market capitalization of $559.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.63, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.28.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.62. The firm had revenue of $16.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.19 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 25.28% and a return on equity of 70.60%. The company’s revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.47 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Oracle Corporation will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 9th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Oracle’s payout ratio is 37.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Oracle news, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,223 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.61, for a total value of $437,064.03. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 25,596 shares in the company, valued at $5,032,429.56. This trade represents a 7.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Maria Smith sold 5,000 shares of Oracle 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 47,083 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,212,431.46. This trade represents a 9.60% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 146,346 shares of company stock worth $39,082,996 in the last quarter. 40.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oracle

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ORCL. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the third quarter valued at $28,000. Winnow Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Kilter Group LLC bought a new position in Oracle during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC lifted its holdings 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 period. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Oracle by 130.0% in the 3rd quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC now owns 115 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.