Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Down 1.2% – Time to Sell?

03 Apr 2026, 13:08 by Danessa Lincoln · The Markets Daily

Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL – Get Free Report) dropped 1.2% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $144.67 and last traded at $145.3080. Approximately 20,434,585 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 25% from the average daily volume of 27,260,809 shares. The stock had previously closed at $147.11.

Key Oracle News

Here are the key news stories impacting Oracle this week:

Positive Sentiment: Company-wide layoffs (as many as ~18% of staff, reports up to ~30,000 jobs) are being framed as a deliberate reallocation of cash toward AI data centers and cloud capacity, which can improve long‑term margins and help secure large AI/cloud contracts. Oracle’s Massive Layoffs Recast Workforce As Cash For AI Expansion
Positive Sentiment: Related Digital is reported to be nearing ~$16B of financing for a giant Oracle data center project, which could de‑risk part of Oracle’s capital plan for AI infrastructure. Related Digital nears $16 billion financing for Oracle data center, Bloomberg News reports
Positive Sentiment: Oracle launched an AI back‑office product for restaurants (NetSuite Restaurant Operations), showing product monetization of its AI/cloud stack beyond hyperscaler services. New vertical offerings can broaden revenue streams. Oracle Targets Restaurant Industry With New AI Back Office Solution
Neutral Sentiment: Bullish analysts and briefs argue the stock’s multimonth sell‑off is overdone because Oracle is converting AI demand into accelerating cloud growth and backlog, but this view coexists with unresolved execution/financing questions. Oracle (ORCL) Stock Is Down 50%. The Selloff Looks Overdone as AI Momentum Builds
Negative Sentiment: Execution and reputational damage: widespread reports that some employees were notified by email and that cuts began abruptly have raised morale and PR concerns that could affect hiring, customer relations and partner confidence. Fired via email? Some of the 30,000 workers cut by Oracle woke up to a morning message saying they were laid off.
Negative Sentiment: Legal risk: multiple law firms have filed or announced class‑action securities suits related to Oracle’s disclosures, which could lead to costly litigation and distraction. Oracle Corporation (ORCL) Shareholders Who Lost Money Have Opportunity to Lead Securities Fraud Lawsuit
Negative Sentiment: Uncertainty around the true scale and cost of the AI buildout and whether Oracle will need substantial external financing remains a key downside risk for investors assessing dilution, leverage and timing of returns. Oracle Just Started Layoffs. What Do the AI-Driven Job Cuts Mean for ORCL Stock?

Analyst Ratings Changes

ORCL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Oracle from $275.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Citizens Jmp dropped their target price on Oracle from $342.00 to $285.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Bank of America started coverage on Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $200.00 price target on the stock. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Oracle presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $262.91.

View Our Latest Analysis on ORCL

Oracle Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.66. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $153.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $208.35. The stock has a market cap of $420.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.60.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $17.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.91 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 25.30% and a return on equity of 62.70%. Oracle’s revenue was up 21.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.47 earnings per share. Oracle has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 1.960-2.000 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Oracle Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Oracle news, CEO Clayton M. Magouyrk sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.23, for a total value of $1,552,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 134,030 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,805,476.90. This represents a 6.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Douglas A. Kehring sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.89, for a total value of $6,821,150.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 33,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,555,709.82. This represents a 50.99% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 40.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oracle

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ORCL. Patton Fund Management Inc. grew its position in Oracle by 626.1% in the 3rd quarter. Patton Fund Management Inc. now owns 11,537 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,245,000 after purchasing an additional 9,948 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 40,946 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $11,516,000 after buying an additional 3,184 shares during the period. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Oracle in the 3rd quarter worth $689,000. Xponance Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 406,544 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $114,336,000 after buying an additional 7,320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stonegate Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 3.2% in the third quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 99,400 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $27,955,000 after acquiring an additional 3,065 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.