Stifel Nicolaus Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Stock Price

Posted by Defense World Staff on Mar 13th, 2026

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL – Get Free Report) had its price target lowered by research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $275.00 to $220.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the enterprise software provider’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price objective would suggest a potential upside of 38.28% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. HSBC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $382.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $313.00 price target on Oracle in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings cut Oracle from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Oracle from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Mizuho set a $400.00 target price on Oracle in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Three 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $268.06.

Read Our Latest Analysis on ORCL

Oracle Price Performance

Oracle stock opened at $159.09 on Wednesday. Oracle has a 12-month low of $118.86 and a 12-month high of $345.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.19. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $166.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $218.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $457.09 billion, a PE ratio of 28.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.66.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.08. Oracle had a net margin of 25.30% and a return on equity of 60.00%. The company had revenue of $17.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.91 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.47 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Oracle has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 1.960-2.000 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Oracle will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other Oracle news, EVP Douglas A. Kehring sold 35,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.89, for a total transaction of $6,821,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 33,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,555,709.82. The trade was a 50.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Mark Hura sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.89, for a total value of $2,953,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 234,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,087,420.53. This represents a 6.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 72,223 shares of company stock valued at $13,689,064. Company insiders own 40.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. HFM Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 290.9% in the 4th quarter. HFM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Basepoint Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Winnow Wealth LLC bought a new position in Oracle in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC bought a new position in Oracle in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle during the third quarter worth $28,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Oracle News

Here are the key news stories impacting Oracle this week:

Positive Sentiment: Q3 beat and raised FY‑2027 revenue outlook — Oracle reported stronger‑than‑expected Q3 revenue and EPS with accelerating cloud/AI demand and a massive $553B backlog, which drove the post‑earnings rally. Oracle stock rockets higher on Q3 earnings beat, 2027 revenue outlook
Positive Sentiment: Longer‑term cash‑flow thesis — A Guggenheim analyst argues Oracle’s heavy AI investments should flip to a free‑cash‑flow “waterfall” in fiscal 2029–2030, supporting a bullish multi‑year case. Guggenheim analyst predicts Oracle free cash flow ‘waterfall’ in fiscal 29-30
Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and higher targets — Several firms responded to the print with upgrades or higher targets (Citigroup, JPMorgan and others), fueling near‑term institutional buying interest. These Analysts Revise Their Forecasts On Oracle After Q3 Earnings
Neutral Sentiment: Technical / momentum pullback — Despite the strong beat, the stock is struggling around key moving averages and some traders are locking in gains; that keeps near‑term volatility elevated even as fundamentals improve. Oracle Is Treading Water Below Its Moving Averages After Earnings. How Should You Play ORCL Stock Here?
Negative Sentiment: New legal / securities‑fraud actions — Multiple law firms have filed or solicited plaintiffs for class actions tied to a prior disclosure period, increasing litigation overhang and potential liability for investors. Oracle Corporation (ORCL) Shareholders Who Lost Money Have Opportunity to Lead Securities Fraud Lawsuit
Negative Sentiment: Analyst price‑target cuts and mixed research — Several shops (Baird, TD Cowen, Stifel and others) cut targets or trimmed upside despite keeping favorable ratings, signalling valuation and execution debates remain. Baird Lowers PT on Oracle (ORCL), Here’s What You Need to Know
Negative Sentiment: Restructuring and near‑term cash pressure — Oracle disclosed an extra $500M reserve for restructuring tied to AI‑driven workforce changes; combined with massive capex for AI data centers this keeps free‑cash‑flow and debt metrics under scrutiny. Oracle Allocates Extra $500 Million to Cover Restructuring Costs

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.