Okta (NASDAQ:OKTA) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Okta (NASDAQ:OKTA) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Monday, Zacks reports.

OKTA has been the topic of several other research reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Okta from $200.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Okta from $195.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Okta in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Okta from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Okta from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Okta has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.38.

Okta Trading Up 2.8%

OKTA stock opened at $226.07 on Monday. Okta has a 52-week low of $62.66 and a 52-week high of $235.00. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $188.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $122.81.

Okta (NASDAQ:OKTA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 26th. The company reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $805.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $793.00 million. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. Okta has set its FY 2027 guidance at 3.900-3.940 EPS and its Q3 2027 guidance at 0.920-0.940 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Okta will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Okta

In other news, CEO Todd McKinnon sold 48,822 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.48, for a total transaction of $9,446,080.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 44,029 shares in the company, valued at $8,518,730.92. This trade represents a 52.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Brett Tighe sold 41,251 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.44, for a total transaction of $6,700,812.44. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 7,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,249,650.92. The trade was a 84.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 137,766 shares of company stock worth $23,927,112 over the last three months. 4.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Okta

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of OKTA. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Okta by 71.9% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,553,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $281,209,000 after buying an additional 1,485,963 shares during the period. Swedbank AB grew its position in shares of Okta by 21.9% in the first quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,216,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $174,468,000 after purchasing an additional 397,507 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Okta by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,496,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $117,821,000 after purchasing an additional 6,533 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its holdings in Okta by 192.9% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 487,202 shares of the company’s stock valued at $101,879,000 after buying an additional 320,849 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Senvest Management LLC grew its holdings in Okta by 54.5% during the 1st quarter. Senvest Management LLC now owns 830,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,370,000 after buying an additional 292,900 shares in the last quarter. 86.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

More Okta News

Here are the key news stories impacting Okta this week:

• Positive Sentiment: A channel-partner survey indicated healthier cybersecurity budgets, stable demand, and improving pipeline activity. Okta reportedly showed the strongest quarter-over-quarter pipeline build among the vendors surveyed, supporting optimism about upcoming results. Why Okta Stock Is Up Today
• Positive Sentiment: Investor enthusiasm remains elevated around Okta’s expansion into AI-agent and non-human identity security, areas viewed as increasingly important as companies address vulnerabilities discovered by artificial intelligence. Black October Is Changing How Companies Buy Cybersecurity
• Positive Sentiment: Broader cybersecurity stocks and exchange-traded funds have gained attention as “Black October” cyber incidents and AI-discovered flaws reinforce demand for security software. This industry-wide momentum is providing a favorable backdrop for OKTA. Cybersecurity ETFs in Spotlight
• Neutral Sentiment: Okta’s chief executive, Todd McKinnon, discussed decision-making and competing instincts for company founders. The commentary may support the company’s leadership profile but did not provide a specific financial or operating update. Okta CEO Todd McKinnon Interview
• Negative Sentiment: Quiver data shows significant insider selling over the past six months, including sales by CEO Todd McKinnon and CFO Brett Tighe, with no reported insider purchases. Such activity can temper investor enthusiasm, although it may also reflect routine equity compensation or diversification.
• Negative Sentiment: At its recent trading level, OKTA’s valuation appears demanding relative to several older analyst price targets, creating downside risk if growth or forward guidance fails to accelerate. Wall Street brokerages nevertheless recently characterized the stock as a “Moderate Buy.” Okta Rated Moderate Buy

Okta Company Profile

Okta, Inc provides cloud-based identity and access management solutions for organizations worldwide. Its platform helps businesses securely connect employees, contractors, customers and partners with the applications, systems and services they need to use.

The company’s offerings include single sign-on, multifactor authentication, identity governance, lifecycle management, directory services and privileged access management. Okta also provides customer identity solutions through Auth0, its developer-focused identity platform, which supports authentication and authorization for applications and digital experiences.

Okta serves enterprises, government agencies, small and medium-sized businesses, developers and other organizations across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and additional international markets.