Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Stock Price Down 2% Following Analyst Downgrade

Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)’s share price dropped 2% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Erste Group Bank downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a hold rating. The company traded as low as $228.89 and last traded at $235.95. Approximately 20,312,798 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 31% from the average daily volume of 15,470,663 shares. The stock had previously closed at $240.83.

ORCL has been the topic of several other research reports. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $363.00 to $364.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Oracle from $246.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Rothschild Redb raised Oracle to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $323.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Stuart Levey sold 19,758 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $5,927,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 18,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,528,700. This represents a 51.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Maria Smith sold 5,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 23rd. The stock was 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 owned 47,083 shares in the company, 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 204,254 shares of company stock worth $60,227,807. Company insiders own 40.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ORCL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 168,960,500 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $47,518,451,000 after acquiring an additional 4,681,626 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.7% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,459,391 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $16,060,427,000 after purchasing an additional 1,252,723 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 0.6% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 19,741,423 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,760,048,000 after purchasing an additional 120,889 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Oracle during the second quarter valued at $4,275,378,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 0.4% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 13,884,524 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,941,195,000 after buying an additional 59,164 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Down 2.0%

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $279.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $232.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $672.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.62, a price-to-earnings-growth 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.

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

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 9th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 9th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.30%.

Oracle Company Profile

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.