Okta (NASDAQ:OKTA) Rating Lowered to "Hold" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Okta was downgraded from a "buy" to a "hold" rating by Wall Street Zen, marking a shift in analyst sentiment towards the company.
• Investor interest fluctuates, with three analysts issuing sell ratings and a consensus price target of $118.61 based on 15 hold ratings and 20 buy ratings.
• Despite the downgrade, Okta reported a year-over-year revenue increase of 11.5% and earnings per share of $0.86, exceeding analysts' expectations.

Okta (NASDAQ:OKTA - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on OKTA. Arete Research raised shares of Okta to a "strong sell" rating and set a $83.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of Okta in a research report on Monday, March 31st. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $130.00 price target on the stock. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Okta from $109.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Okta from $150.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Okta from $125.00 to $123.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Okta has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $118.61.

Okta Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of OKTA traded up $0.77 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $98.61. The stock had a trading volume of 667,957 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,616,685. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.47. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $101.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $102.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 155.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 0.82. Okta has a 1-year low of $70.56 and a 1-year high of $127.57.

Okta (NASDAQ:OKTA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 27th. The company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $688.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $680.14 million. Okta had a return on equity of 2.79% and a net margin of 4.85%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Okta will post 0.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Okta

In other news, insider Eric Robert Kelleher sold 16,018 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.81, for a total transaction of $1,470,612.58. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 7,044 shares in the company, valued at $646,709.64. This trade represents a 69.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Jacques Frederic Kerrest sold 581 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.29, for a total transaction of $58,268.49. Following the sale, the director owned 2,832 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $284,021.28. The trade was a 17.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 79,594 shares of company stock worth $7,482,790 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 5.68% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Stableford Capital II LLC purchased a new position in Okta in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $565,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System purchased a new position in Okta in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $12,137,000. Mutual Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Okta in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $235,000. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new position in Okta in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,402,000. Finally, Courier Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Okta by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Courier Capital LLC now owns 9,680 shares of the company's stock valued at $968,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. 86.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.