William Blair Issues Negative Estimate for Oracle Earnings

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) – Equities research analysts at William Blair cut their Q2 2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Oracle in a report released on Tuesday, March 11th. William Blair analyst S. Naji now forecasts that the enterprise software provider will earn $1.27 per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $1.37. The consensus estimate for Oracle’s current full-year earnings is $5.00 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Oracle’s Q4 2026 earnings at $1.65 EPS.

ORCL has been the topic of a number of other reports. Royal Bank of Canada set a $145.00 price target on Oracle and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $212.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.85.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE ORCL opened at $151.17 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $166.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $169.49. Oracle has a 12-month low of $112.78 and a 12-month high of $198.31. The firm has a market cap of $422.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.96, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.02). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The business had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.40 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.41 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oracle

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ORCL. Activest Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 21.9% in the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 312 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Second Line Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Oracle by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 3,816 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $650,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Cadence Bank increased its stake in Oracle by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 7,605 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,296,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Oracle by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC now owns 2,240 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $373,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 1,423 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $237,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total value of $64,050,487.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,565,931.52. This trade represents a 23.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 42.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. This is a positive change from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Oracle’s payout ratio is presently 39.12%.

About Oracle

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.