25,769 Oracle Corporation $ORCL Shares Bought by ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 421,765 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 25,769 shares during the period. Oracle accounts for 1.6% of ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $57,908,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Hudock Inc. lifted its stake in Oracle by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Hudock Inc. now owns 7,750 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,064,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its stake in Oracle by 91.4% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 1,185 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $163,000 after acquiring an additional 566 shares in the last quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. grew its stake in Oracle by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 161,638 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $22,193,000 after acquiring an additional 14,332 shares in the last quarter. Columbus Macro LLC grew its stake in Oracle by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 1,873 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $257,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mezzasalma Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mezzasalma Advisors LLC now owns 4,092 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $562,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ORCL. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Oracle from $220.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 11th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Oracle from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. CLSA began coverage on shares of Oracle in a research report on Monday, July 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $145.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $250.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $290.00 price objective (down from $320.00) on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $251.72.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other Oracle news, CEO Michael Sicilia sold 22,562 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.59, for a total value of $3,420,173.58. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 182,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,730,207.11. The trade was a 10.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Maria Smith sold 2,631 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.70, for a total transaction of $399,122.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 64,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,762,956.90. This represents a 3.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 36,075 shares of company stock worth $5,342,123 over the last ninety days. 38.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Trending Headlines about Oracle

Here are the key news stories impacting Oracle this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mizuho reaffirmed its $320 price target and “Outperform” rating, suggesting the firm believes Oracle’s long-term cloud and AI growth opportunity outweighs near-term infrastructure and regulatory challenges. Wall Street analyst updates Oracle stock price target
• Positive Sentiment: Oracle continues to cite strong cloud demand and approximately $664 billion in remaining performance obligations, providing substantial contracted revenue visibility. However, the company’s AI infrastructure investment is currently weighing on free cash flow. Will Rising Capex Weigh on Oracle’s Free Cash Flow Outlook?
• Neutral Sentiment: Oracle urged federal regulators to expedite approval of the Green Chile natural-gas pipeline, which is intended to supply its Project Jupiter AI data-center campus in New Mexico. Approval could support construction and ramp-up, while delays represent an execution risk. Oracle urges FERC to expedite New Mexico gas pipeline for Project Jupiter
• Negative Sentiment: September inflation data came in hotter than expected, lifting Treasury yields and reviving concerns about potential rate hikes. Higher borrowing costs generally pressure long-duration technology and growth stocks, including Oracle. Stock Market Today, Oct. 14: Oracle Tumbles on Hotter CPI Data Lifting Treasury Yields
• Negative Sentiment: Sharp declines across AI infrastructure stocks, including CoreWeave and Nebius, intensified worries about debt-funded data-center expansion. Oracle is being treated as part of that broader AI trade, despite its larger and more diversified business. Bitcoin miners plunge up to 13% in Wall Street’s worst selloff since July
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that rising capital expenditures could keep free cash flow negative and increase balance-sheet pressure as Oracle builds AI capacity. Uncertainty around Project Jupiter’s pipeline approval adds to those concerns.

Oracle Stock Down 8.8%

Shares of Oracle stock opened at $130.60 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $394.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17. Oracle Corporation has a 52-week low of $114.50 and a 52-week high of $322.54. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $145.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $158.89.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.18. Oracle had a return on equity of 48.85% and a net margin of 26.36%. The business had revenue of $19.34 billion during 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 29.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Oracle has set its Q2 2027 guidance at 1.850-1.930 EPS and its FY 2027 guidance at 8.100-8.100 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Oracle Corporation will post 6.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.50 dividend. 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 31.35%.

Oracle Profile

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.