Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Down 5.7% – Here’s Why

Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)’s share price fell 5.7% during trading on Thursday. The company traded as low as $134.66 and last traded at $135.3460. 41,345,016 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 41% from the average daily volume of 29,414,020 shares. The stock had previously closed at $143.56.

Key Stories Impacting Oracle

Here are the key news stories impacting Oracle this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mizuho added Oracle to its Top Picks list with a $320 price target, citing accelerating demand for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure and AI-related cloud services. Oracle and these 6 stocks are newest addition to Mizuho Top Picks list
• Positive Sentiment: Oracle signed a virtual power purchase agreement for most of the output from Scout Clean Energy’s 300-megawatt Ranchero Wind Farm in Texas. The agreement supports Oracle’s planned investment in more than 1.7 gigawatts of Texas renewable-energy projects and could help address the power demands of its data centers. Scout Clean Energy Announces PPA with Oracle for Texas Wind Energy Farm
• Neutral Sentiment: Oracle is reportedly exploring a financing structure in which private-credit investors purchase AI chips and lease them to Oracle. The arrangement could reduce near-term capital requirements, but reflects the substantial cost of expanding AI capacity. Oracle Courts Apollo and Goldman for AI Chip Financing
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Oracle, Broadcom and SpaceX are pursuing debt deals worth tens of billions of dollars to fund AI hardware heightened concerns about leverage, financing costs and the risk that expensive chips could become obsolete before the debt matures. Oracle, Broadcom and SpaceX Seek Blockbuster Debt Deals To Pay for AI Chips
• Negative Sentiment: Investors also remain concerned about Project Jupiter’s power and infrastructure delays, including the possibility of using trucks to deliver natural gas to Oracle’s large New Mexico AI campus. Those logistical issues could delay data-center capacity coming online and increase costs. Why Oracle Stock Is Sinking Today

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ORCL. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective (down from $275.00) on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Oracle from $241.00 to $215.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price target on Oracle from $283.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, DZ Bank reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, September 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $251.72.

Oracle Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $145.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $159.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $409.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.21, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.78.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.18. Oracle had a net margin of 26.36% and a return on equity of 48.85%. The firm had revenue of $19.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.47 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 29.6% on a year-over-year basis. Oracle has set its Q2 2027 guidance at 1.850-1.930 EPS and its FY 2027 guidance at 8.100-8.100 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Oracle Corporation will post 6.69 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 9th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 31.35%.

Insider Activity

In other Oracle news, Director Stephen Rusckowski bought 25,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 29th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $139.35 per share, with a total value of $3,483,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 25,390 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,538,096.50. This represents a 6,410.26% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael Sicilia sold 22,562 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.59, for a total value of $3,420,173.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 182,929 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,730,207.11. This represents a 10.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 36,075 shares of company stock valued at $5,342,123 in the last quarter. 38.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sherman Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Oracle by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Sherman Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,054 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $155,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Southern Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Oracle by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Southern Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,446 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $654,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Global Financial Private Client LLC grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 0.8% in the first quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 7,836 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,153,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Key Financial Inc raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 0.4% during the first quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 14,203 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,089,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gould Asset Management LLC CA lifted its holdings in Oracle by 2.0% in the first quarter. Gould Asset Management LLC CA now owns 3,172 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $467,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

About Oracle

Oracle Corporation (NYSE: ORCL) is a global technology company that develops enterprise software, cloud services and related hardware. Its offerings help businesses manage databases, applications, data, infrastructure and other core information-technology operations.

The company is best known for its Oracle Database, along with cloud-based infrastructure and platform services. Oracle also provides enterprise applications for functions such as finance, human resources, supply-chain management, customer experience and industry-specific operations.