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

Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $178.18, but opened at $172.62. Oracle shares last traded at $175.6340, with a volume of 5,141,560 shares trading hands.

Key Headlines Impacting Oracle

Here are the key news stories impacting Oracle this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Oracle is part of the consortium that finalized the U.S. spin-off of TikTok, taking a minority stake and the role of Trusted Technology Partner — this secures a large, long‑duration cloud customer for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure and validates recent capital spending on AI/data centers. TikTok reaches deal for new US joint venture to avoid American ban
• Positive Sentiment: Third‑party research shows accelerating enterprise adoption of Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), supporting a longer‑term cloud revenue growth thesis independent of the TikTok deal. U.S. Enterprises Are Increasing Adopting Oracle Cloud Infrastructure
• Neutral Sentiment: Note for ticker clarity: a separate small Canadian issuer named Oracle Commodity Holding (TSXV: ORCL / OTCQB: ORLCF) announced a C$100,000 private placement — not related to Oracle Corporation. Retail investors should avoid ticker confusion. Oracle Commodity Holding Announces a $100,000 Private Placement
• Negative Sentiment: Bondholders have filed claims and notice-of-class-action campaigns allege Oracle didn’t fully disclose the extent of debt tied to its AI/data‑center buildout — legal risk and refinancing uncertainty are pressuring the stock. ORCL Investors Have Opportunity to Lead Oracle Corporation Securities Lawsuit
• Negative Sentiment: Prominent investor Michael Burry has placed bets against Oracle, adding headline risk and signaling high‑profile bearish conviction that can amplify short‑term selling pressure. Michael Burry Bets Against Oracle — Should You Sell ORCL Stock Now?
• Negative Sentiment: Reports and analyst commentary flag investor concern about Oracle’s cash burn and the scale of debt being used to fund its AI/data‑center strategy; that disclosure-driven volatility caused sharp intraday moves recently. Oracle (ORCL) Is Down 11.1% After AI Debt Disclosure Lawsuit Raises Questions About Funding Model
• Negative Sentiment: Market reports say demand for debt tied to Oracle’s big “Stargate” / data‑center financing has cooled (JPMorgan saw slower investor interest), highlighting funding risk for continued rapid expansion. Wall Street is losing its appetite for Oracle’s data center debt
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage noting the stock’s steep decline from its October highs (nearly a 50% market‑cap drop) is amplifying momentum selling and bearish sentiment — reinforcing the impact of the legal/financing headlines. Oracle stock has crashed: Is it a buy after the $424 billion wipeout?

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on ORCL. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Oracle from $350.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Oracle from $350.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Erste Group Bank cut Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Oracle from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $300.46.

Oracle Stock Up 0.7%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.28, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $199.28 and its 200 day moving average is $239.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $515.71 billion, a PE ratio of 33.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.65.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.62. The business had revenue of $16.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.47 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Oracle Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 9th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Oracle’s payout ratio is presently 37.59%.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, CEO Clayton M. Magouyrk sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.52, for a total transaction of $1,925,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 144,030 shares in the company, valued at $27,728,655.60. This represents a 6.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,223 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.61, for a total value of $437,064.03. Following the sale, the director owned 25,596 shares in the company, valued at $5,032,429.56. This represents a 7.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 111,588 shares of company stock valued at $26,108,046. Corporate insiders own 40.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Winnow Wealth LLC bought a new position in Oracle in the second quarter worth about $28,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle in the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Kilter Group LLC bought a new position in Oracle during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Oracle by 130.0% during the 3rd quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC now owns 115 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Investors Research Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 465.5% in the fourth quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 164 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.