Morgan Stanley Sets New $80.00 Price Target for Okta (NASDAQ:OKTA)

Equity researchers at Morgan Stanley have revised their price target on Okta Inc. (NASDAQ:OKTA), a leading identity management company, cutting it from $85.00 to $80.00. Despite the lower price target, the firm maintains an 'equal weight' rating on Okta's shares, indicating a neutral stance on the stock's investment prospects. The new price target implies a 16.38% potential upside from Okta's current trading price, as reported on Thursday by Benzinga.

Analysts' Views on Okta

Diverse opinions on Okta's stock have been voiced by several other research firms. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target to $95.00 but kept a 'buy' rating. DA Davidson set a 'neutral' rating with a $80.00 price objective. Citigroup and Guggenheim have also provided commentary, with respective price targets of $90.00 and $96.00, both offering 'neutral' and 'buy' ratings. The consensus among analysts, according to MarketBeat, is a 'Hold' with an average price target of $87.88.

Okta's Financial Performance

In recent trading, Okta shares saw a decrease, hitting $68.74. The company's stock experienced a high of $91.50 and a low of $49.01 within the last year. Key financial ratios indicate a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26 and liquidity ratios well above 1. Okta's market capitalization stands at $11.28 billion, with a PE ratio signaling negative earnings.

The company's quarterly earnings report, released on November 29th, showed a positive earnings surprise with $0.44 EPS, beating the $0.30 consensus estimate. Although Okta runs a negative net margin and negative return on equity, its year-over-year quarterly revenue growth of 21.4% is notable. Okta is projected to post an earnings per share of -$2.85 for the current fiscal year.

Recent Insider Trades and Institutional Investors' Activity

Insider sales have been reported with the company's CFO, Brett Tighe, selling shares, and insider Larissa Schwartz also offloading company stock. Such disclosures are made in compliance with SEC regulations. Okta's insider ownership stands at 7.36%.

Changes in institutional holdings have seen new positions taken and existing stakes increased by firms such as MetLife Investment Management LLC, APG Asset Management N.V., and Cibc World Market Inc. The total institutional ownership of Okta's stock reaches 77.52%.

About Okta

Okta Inc. is recognized for its suite of products designed to manage and secure identities across diverse user bases. Its services cater to enterprises, governmental agencies, and educational institutions globally, providing essential identity solutions from universal directories and single sign-on capabilities to advanced server access and lifecycle management.

Okta, MorganStanley, NASDAQ, PriceTarget, Stocks, Earnings, Analysts, Equity, InsiderTrading, Investment, FinancialPerformance, IdentityManagement, Technology, Software