Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Stock Price Up 4.8% – Here’s Why

Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)’s stock price rose 4.8% on Friday . The company traded as high as $200.18 and last traded at $198.7470. Approximately 26,066,835 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 42% from the average daily volume of 18,375,195 shares. The stock had previously closed at $189.65.

Oracle News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Oracle this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Evercore ISI reaffirmed an Outperform rating and a $275 price target, citing large multi‑year data‑center leases (reported as roughly $1.2B/month) and multicloud AI demand — a vote of confidence in Oracle’s backlog-to-revenue path. Evercore ISI Reaffirms Outperform on Oracle (ORCL)
• Positive Sentiment: Oracle reported a Q3 EPS beat ($2.26 vs. $1.64 est.), revenue up ~14% y/y and a record backlog — signals that contract wins and capacity expansion could drive cloud revenue growth later in 2026. Here’s What Lifted Oracle (ORCL) in Q3
• Positive Sentiment: MarketBeat highlights Oracle as a second‑half growth play: cloud infrastructure momentum and backlog conversion could reaccelerate revenue later in 2026, supporting a consensus price target well above current levels. 3 Tech Stocks Positioned for the Next Leg of the Bull Market (ORCL)
• Positive Sentiment: Oracle is part of the investor group in the ByteDance/TikTok U.S. JV — a strategic tie that could deliver longer‑term commercial or technology opportunities (brand/profile benefit). TikTok picked by FIFA as video content partner at 2026 World Cup
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts maintain a mix of ratings: the street consensus remains mildly positive (Moderate Buy), but price targets vary widely — signaling disagreement on timing of cloud revenue conversion. Oracle Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy”
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader market pieces (e.g., inclusion in lists of tech names for the next bull leg) create thematic interest in ORCL as an AI/cloud infrastructure play rather than a pure software legacy stock. 74% of the $317B Portfolio… (Buffett/2026)
• Negative Sentiment: RBC cut its price target to $195 (from $250) — a nearer-term downgrade that highlights investor impatience around 2026 turning points and valuation risk while Oracle spends heavily on data centers. RBC Lowers Oracle PT to $195
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple analyst pieces flag Oracle’s debt‑funded, $50B+ capex plan and negative free cash flow as key risks — if contract rollouts or lease monetization slow, investor confidence could erode. Should You Hold Oracle Despite Debt-Fueled AI Data Center Bet? (Zacks)
• Negative Sentiment: High‑profile skeptics (Jim Cramer) have publicly questioned Oracle’s business model and debt load, adding headline risk and fueling short‑term volatility. Jim Cramer on Oracle: “I’m Not Really Sure About Their Business Model”

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ORCL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on Oracle from $400.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Mizuho set a $400.00 price target on Oracle in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Oracle from $380.00 to $290.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on shares of Oracle from $364.00 to $339.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $304.94.

Oracle Trading Up 4.8%

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $209.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $241.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $571.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.65. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, December 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $16.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.47 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Oracle Corporation will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 9th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.59%.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other Oracle news, insider Mark Hura sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.89, for a total transaction of $2,953,350.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 234,077 shares in the company, valued at $46,087,420.53. This trade represents a 6.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Jeffrey Berg sold 49,365 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.02, for a total transaction of $13,971,282.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 151,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,018,756.98. The trade was a 24.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 126,588 shares of company stock valued at $33,155,596. Insiders own 40.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ORCL. Winnow Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle during the third quarter worth $28,000. Kilter Group LLC bought a new stake in Oracle in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC raised its stake 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Investors Research Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 465.5% during the 4th quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 164 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Oracle Company Profile

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.