Okta (NASDAQ:OKTA) Sees Strong Trading Volume Following Analyst Upgrade

Okta, Inc. (NASDAQ:OKTA) shares saw strong trading volume on Thursday after Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded the stock from a market perform rating to an outperform rating. Sanford C. Bernstein now has a $129.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $123.00. 2,646,595 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 27% from the previous session’s volume of 2,089,208 shares.The stock last traded at $86.46 and had previously closed at $86.11.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Okta in a report on Wednesday. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Okta from $82.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Okta from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $92.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of Okta in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Okta from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Larissa Schwartz sold 2,790 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.01, for a total value of $206,487.90. Following the sale, the insider now owns 27,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,051,039.13. This trade represents a 9.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Jacques Frederic Kerrest sold 131,426 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.68, for a total transaction of $10,603,449.68. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $130,862.96. The trade was a 98.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 607,215 shares of company stock valued at $46,304,810 over the last 90 days. 7.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Okta

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in OKTA. Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Okta by 15.7% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 5,405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $565,000 after purchasing an additional 734 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Okta by 87.4% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 17,265 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,806,000 after buying an additional 8,051 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Okta in the 1st quarter worth approximately $946,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Okta by 71.4% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 341 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Okta by 10.0% during the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 5,115 shares of the company’s stock valued at $479,000 after acquiring an additional 465 shares during the period. 86.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Okta Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $14.69 billion, a P/E ratio of -246.03, a PEG ratio of 20.94 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.83 and a quick ratio of 1.83. The company has a fifty day moving average of $75.37 and a 200 day moving average of $84.29.

About Okta

Okta, Inc operates as an identity partner in the United States and internationally. The company offers Okta's suite of products and services used to manage and secure identities, such as Single Sign-On that enables users to access applications in the cloud or on-premises from various devices; Adaptive Multi-Factor Authentication provides a layer of security for cloud, mobile, web applications, and data; API Access Management enables organizations to secure APIs; Access Gateway enables organizations to extend Workforce Identity Cloud; and Okta Device Access enables end users to securely log in to devices with Okta credentials.