Piper Sandler Has Lowered Expectations for Okta (NASDAQ:OKTA) Stock Price

Okta (NASDAQ:OKTA) had its price objective decreased by equities researchers at Piper Sandler from $100.00 to $82.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. Piper Sandler’s target price suggests a potential upside of 1.59% from the company’s current price.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of Okta from $115.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Okta from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $138.00 price objective on shares of Okta in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Okta from $90.00 to $83.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Okta from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Okta presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.25.

Okta Stock Up 1.3%

NASDAQ:OKTA opened at $80.72 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $14.31 billion, a PE ratio of 61.62, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.79. The business’s 50 day moving average is $85.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.38. Okta has a 52 week low of $68.77 and a 52 week high of $127.57.

Okta (NASDAQ:OKTA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 4th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $761.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $749.87 million. Okta had a return on equity of 4.18% and a net margin of 8.05%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.78 EPS. Okta has set its FY 2027 guidance at 3.740-3.820 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 0.840-0.860 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Okta will post 0.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Okta announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, January 5th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 6.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Okta news, CEO Todd Mckinnon sold 11,286 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.96, for a total value of $1,026,574.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Brett Tighe sold 10,000 shares of Okta stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.07, for a total value of $950,700.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 134,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,775,981.95. This trade represents a 6.93% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 35,927 shares of company stock worth $3,272,658 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 5.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Okta

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Okta during the 2nd quarter worth $211,923,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Okta by 28.2% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,030,090 shares of the company’s stock valued at $521,422,000 after purchasing an additional 1,326,051 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Okta by 113.7% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,067,128 shares of the company’s stock valued at $172,895,000 after purchasing an additional 1,099,962 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Okta by 5.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,803,227 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,815,956,000 after purchasing an additional 1,074,977 shares during the period. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. lifted its holdings in Okta by 276.9% in the third quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 1,403,499 shares of the company’s stock worth $128,701,000 after purchasing an additional 1,031,083 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.64% of the company’s stock.

Key Okta News

Here are the key news stories impacting Okta this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat and signs of enterprise traction — Okta reported stronger-than-expected Q4 revenue and EPS (revenue ~$761M, EPS $0.90) with cRPO/contract metrics up, which underpins the near-term rally. Okta Earnings Beat, But Growth Questions Remain
• Positive Sentiment: AI?agent product traction — Management said AI?related products (e.g., Auth0 for AI Agents / Okta for AI Agents) contributed meaningfully to Q4 bookings and the company exceeded $3B in ACV, giving a credible growth narrative tied to securing non?human identities. Okta Ties AI Security Push To Larger Contracts And Equity Plans
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and bullish notes — Multiple brokers reiterated or upgraded coverage after the print (BMO upgraded to Outperform with a $97 PT; JPMorgan raised its PT slightly; Jefferies/DA Davidson remain constructive), which supports near?term upside. BMO Capital Upgrades Okta to Outperform
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed analyst positioning — while some firms kept or raised price targets, many others trimmed targets on a mix of valuation and near?term growth concerns; consensus views show upside but with varied conviction. Okta To Rally Around 22%? Here Are 10 Top Analyst Forecasts For Friday
• Neutral Sentiment: Equity plan / shelf filing announced — Okta filed a $763M shelf tied to an ESOP equity offering; routine for employee programs but worth noting for potential future supply. Okta Ties AI Security Push To Larger Contracts And Equity Plans
• Negative Sentiment: Cautious FY?2027 guidance and Q1 outlook — management’s FY?27 and Q1 guidance implied a near?term revenue deceleration (Q1 revenue guide slightly below Street estimates), which tempers the rally and keeps longer?term growth questions alive. Okta’s Q4 results surpass estimates, but guidance appears mixed
• Negative Sentiment: Competition and execution questions on the AI agent opportunity — analysts warn that the AI?agent TAM is attractive but unproven; large cloud players and security vendors are building competing solutions, making monetization and sustained re?acceleration uncertain. Okta: Bigger Deals And Renewed Growth, Thanks To Agentic AI
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst price?target cuts — several brokers trimmed targets post?earnings despite positive notes, signaling caution on valuation and the company’s ability to reaccelerate growth. Benzinga Coverage of Price Target Changes

Okta Company Profile

Okta, Inc is a publicly traded provider of identity and access management solutions, headquartered in San Francisco, California. Founded in 2009 by Todd McKinnon and Frederic Kerrest, the company completed its initial public offering in April 2017. Under the leadership of McKinnon as chief executive officer and Kerrest as chief operating officer, Okta has grown into a leading vendor in the cybersecurity space, focusing on secure user authentication, single sign-on and lifecycle management for digital identities.

At the core of Okta’s offering is the Okta Identity Cloud, a suite of cloud-native services that enable organizations to manage user access across web and mobile applications, on-premises systems and APIs.