Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Okta Call Options (NASDAQ:OKTA)

Okta, Inc. (NASDAQ:OKTA) was the target of some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock investors purchased 34,505 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 63% compared to the typical volume of 21,109 call options.

Okta Price Performance

Shares of OKTA traded up $3.05 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $116.79. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,530,408 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,371,392. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Okta has a one year low of $70.56 and a one year high of $117.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -333.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.42 and a beta of 1.09. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $97.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.44.

Insider Activity at Okta

In related news, CFO Brett Tighe sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.00, for a total value of $445,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 112,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,015,437. This represents a 4.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Eric Robert Kelleher sold 5,895 shares of Okta stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.75, for a total value of $670,556.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,828 shares in the company, valued at $1,117,935. This represents a 37.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 763,901 shares of company stock worth $70,880,205. 7.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of OKTA. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Okta in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $234,992,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Okta by 2,135.7% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,914,254 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,845,000 after acquiring an additional 1,828,630 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its position in Okta by 2,309.4% during the 4th quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 1,772,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $139,693,000 after acquiring an additional 1,699,176 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Okta by 236.8% during the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,236,942 shares of the company’s stock worth $176,271,000 after acquiring an additional 1,572,786 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sachem Head Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Okta in the 4th quarter worth about $105,592,000. Institutional investors own 86.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on OKTA shares. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Okta from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Okta from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup raised their price target on Okta from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Okta from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Okta from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $115.29.

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.