Okta (NASDAQ:OKTA) Trading Down 7.3% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Okta, Inc. (NASDAQ:OKTA) dropped 7.3% on Friday . The company traded as low as $72.89 and last traded at $73.5850. Approximately 838,657 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 3,221,271 shares. The stock had previously closed at $79.38.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Okta from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Okta from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. TD Cowen cut their price target on Okta from $115.00 to $105.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Okta from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Okta in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.25.

Okta Stock Down 7.8%

The firm has a market cap of $12.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.79. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $81.94 and its 200 day moving average is $86.19.

Okta (NASDAQ:OKTA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 4th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.05. The firm 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.78 earnings per share. Okta has set its FY 2027 guidance at 3.740-3.820 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 0.840-0.860 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Okta, Inc. will post 0.42 earnings per share 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 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 6.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Okta

In related news, CFO Brett Tighe sold 10,000 shares of Okta stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.07, for a total transaction of $950,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 134,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,775,981.95. The trade was a 6.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Eric Robert Kelleher sold 16,818 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $1,345,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 15,470 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,237,600. This trade represents a 52.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 46,061 shares of company stock worth $3,884,119. Corporate insiders own 5.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Okta

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Okta in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Okta by 825.0% during the 4th quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 296 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Okta during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. SHP Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Okta during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Torren Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Okta in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. 86.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Okta

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.