Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Oracle (NYSE:ORCL)

Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders acquired 528,841 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 52% compared to the average volume of 348,705 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Stuart Levey sold 15,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.19, for a total value of $2,642,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 3,429 shares in the company, valued at $604,155.51. This trade represents a 81.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 40.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Maripau Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 25.9% during the 1st quarter. Maripau Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,301 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $338,000 after purchasing an additional 473 shares in the last quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 21.5% during the 1st quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 4,933 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $726,000 after purchasing an additional 872 shares in the last quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,459 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $362,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Axiom Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle in the 1st quarter worth $53,000. Finally, Summitry LLC increased its holdings in Oracle by 34.3% in the 1st quarter. Summitry LLC now owns 4,439 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $653,000 after acquiring an additional 1,134 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Oracle

Here are the key news stories impacting Oracle this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Oracle is benefiting from renewed enthusiasm for AI-related software stocks, with investors viewing the company as a key AI/cloud infrastructure winner alongside peers like Snowflake and ServiceNow. Snowflake, Oracle, ServiceNow Stocks Rally As AI Trade Heats Up Again
• Positive Sentiment: Bullish trading signals and unusual options activity point to stronger near-term sentiment, including a Power Inflow alert and a big jump in call buying. Oracle Shares Rise 4% After Key Trading Signal
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary continue to highlight Oracle’s AI cloud backlog and improving outlook, suggesting investors are focusing more on growth potential than on recent volatility. Zacks Industry Outlook Highlights Oracle, Intuit and Progress Software
• Positive Sentiment: Several recent pieces frame Oracle as a possible undervalued AI beneficiary, reinforcing the case for continued investor interest in the stock. Is Oracle Stock an Undervalued Stock to Buy?
• Neutral Sentiment: Oracle is also drawing regulatory scrutiny over TikTok U.S. data safeguards and recommendation-algorithm concerns, which is not a direct business hit but could add headline risk. Democratic senator wants TikTok US JV, Oracle to answer questions on platform safeguards
• Neutral Sentiment: Some investors are still focused on Oracle’s debt load and capital spending for AI data centers, a longer-term concern that could cap enthusiasm if profitability doesn’t keep up. Concerns Over Debt Weigh on Oracle (ORCL) Amid AI Data Center Expansion

Oracle Price Performance

NYSE:ORCL opened at $225.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.66, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The firm has a market cap of $649.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $170.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $178.35. Oracle has a 1-year low of $134.57 and a 1-year high of $345.72.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $17.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.91 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 25.30% and a return on equity of 62.70%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.47 EPS. Oracle has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 1.960-2.000 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Oracle will post 6.08 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 9th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 35.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ORCL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Oracle from $275.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $254.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Oracle from $213.00 to $207.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Oracle from $350.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $261.46.

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.