Okta (NASDAQ:OKTA) Reaches New 12-Month High - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Okta reached a new 52-week high of $191.99, rising alongside other cybersecurity stocks as investors anticipated increased identity and access-management spending driven by AI adoption.
• The company beat quarterly expectations with $1.05 in EPS versus $0.96 expected and $805 million in revenue, up 10.6% year over year. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus, though the average target of $173.45 is below the current share price.
• Valuation and insider selling are notable risks: Okta trades at roughly 115 times earnings, while insiders sold $24.2 million of stock during the last quarter, primarily through pre-arranged trading plans.

Okta, Inc. (NASDAQ:OKTA - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $191.99 and last traded at $190.45, with a volume of 3921941 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $186.45.

Key Stories Impacting Okta

Here are the key news stories impacting Okta this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AI-related cybersecurity demand is supporting the stock. Investors are betting that broader use of AI will increase the need for identity protection, access controls and security spending. Okta CEO Todd McKinnon argued that slowing AI development could worsen cybersecurity risks because threat actors are not pausing. Okta CEO cautions against AI downshift
• Positive Sentiment: Okta is participating in a broader cybersecurity rally. The company’s shares moved higher alongside CrowdStrike and other enterprise security names as investors repriced the potential security spending associated with AI adoption. Cybersecurity stocks rally on AI security demand
• Neutral Sentiment: Upcoming investor presentations could provide a catalyst. Okta will webcast its Oktane opening keynote and investor summit on September 23. Investors may look for updates on product strategy, AI opportunities, demand trends and financial guidance, although no new outlook was announced. Okta to host investor summit webcast
• Negative Sentiment: An insider sold shares. Director Eric Kelleher sold 2,549 shares for approximately $429,634, reducing his ownership by 12.99%. The transaction was conducted under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, which reduces its significance as a discretionary bearish signal, but it may still weigh modestly on sentiment.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Okta from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $180.00 price target on Okta in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Wall Street Zen raised Okta from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 29th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Okta from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, HC Wainwright assumed coverage on Okta in a research note on Monday, July 6th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $173.45.

Okta Trading Up 2.1%

The stock has a market capitalization of $33.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 114.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.80 and a beta of 0.79. The company's 50 day moving average is $151.03 and its 200 day moving average is $113.38.

Okta (NASDAQ:OKTA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The company reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $805.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $793.00 million. Okta had a return on equity of 4.50% and a net margin of 9.63%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $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. Analysts anticipate that Okta, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Okta

In other Okta news, CFO Brett Tighe sold 41,251 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 7,693 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,249,650.92. This trade represents a 84.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Eric Kelleher sold 3,977 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.10, for a total value of $453,775.70. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 19,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,238,413.80. The trade was a 16.86% 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 157,925 shares of company stock valued at $24,163,769. Company insiders own 4.61% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Okta during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,122,000. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in Okta by 124.3% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,819,081 shares of the company's stock worth $157,296,000 after purchasing an additional 1,007,915 shares during the period. Diversify Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Okta during the first quarter valued at $2,077,000. Torque Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Okta by 40.5% during the fourth quarter. Torque Asset Management LLC now owns 289,141 shares of the company's stock worth $25,002,000 after purchasing an additional 83,337 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its position in shares of Okta by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 497,300 shares of the company's stock worth $39,142,000 after buying an additional 35,700 shares during the last quarter. 86.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Okta Company Profile

Okta, Inc provides cloud-based identity and access management solutions for organizations. Its platform helps businesses securely connect employees, customers, partners and applications while managing authentication, authorization and user access across cloud, on-premises and mobile environments.

The company's offerings include single sign-on, multifactor authentication, adaptive access controls, lifecycle management, identity governance and privileged access capabilities. Through its Customer Identity Cloud, powered by Auth0, Okta also provides tools for developers and businesses to embed authentication and authorization features into applications and digital services.

Founded in 2009 by Todd McKinnon and Frederic Kerrest, Okta completed its initial public offering in 2017.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.