Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS) Shares Gap Down After Insider Selling

Zscaler, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZS) shares gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock had previously closed at $168.42, but opened at $161.05. Zscaler shares last traded at $168.6460, with a volume of 414,590 shares trading hands.

Specifically, CFO Kevin Rubin sold 503 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.38, for a total value of $87,210.14. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 40,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,090,375.10. This represents a 1.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Zscaler in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Zscaler in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. B. Riley Financial cut their price target on Zscaler from $225.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Zscaler from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Zscaler in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Thirty-four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $216.18.

Zscaler News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Zscaler this week:

• Positive Sentiment: A broad cybersecurity-sector re-rating lifted Zscaler and other previously underperforming security stocks. The First Trust NASDAQ Cybersecurity ETF also advanced strongly, suggesting investors are buying the group rather than focusing only on ZS. Cybersecurity sector re-rating
• Positive Sentiment: J.P. Morgan assigned Zscaler a “buy” or “overweight” view and raised its price target from $205 to $215. The higher target reinforces expectations for additional upside and was a direct bullish catalyst. J.P. Morgan upgrades Zscaler
• Positive Sentiment: Zscaler participated in Deep Cogito’s $43 million Series A financing. The investment provides exposure to a developer of self-improving AI models and supports Zscaler’s broader enterprise-AI positioning, although it is unlikely to materially affect near-term earnings. Deep Cogito financing
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are awaiting Zscaler’s quarterly earnings announcement. The company previously exceeded consensus estimates for earnings and revenue, but the upcoming report must validate expectations for continued growth in cloud security and AI-related demand. Zscaler earnings announcement
• Negative Sentiment: Evercore placed Zscaler on its tactical “underperform” list ahead of results, indicating that valuation and elevated growth expectations could create downside risk if the earnings outlook disappoints. Evercore underperform view
• Negative Sentiment: CFO Kevin Rubin sold 503 shares worth approximately $87,210 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The sale reduced his holdings by about 1.2% and is a modest negative signal, though the planned nature and small size limit its significance. Zscaler CFO stock sale

Zscaler Stock Performance

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $155.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $150.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 1.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market cap of $30.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -390.20, a P/E/G ratio of 100.24 and a beta of 0.94.

Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 26th. The company reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.07. Zscaler had a negative return on equity of 0.37% and a negative net margin of 2.44%.The firm had revenue of $850.48 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $835.14 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.84 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 25.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Zscaler, Inc. will post 0.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Zscaler

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in Zscaler by 89.6% during the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 60,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,601,000 after acquiring an additional 28,792 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Zscaler by 6.6% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 193,297 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,284,000 after purchasing an additional 11,941 shares during the period. Oxbow Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Zscaler in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,939,000. Qsemble Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Zscaler by 105.5% during the fourth quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP now owns 15,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,548,000 after purchasing an additional 8,099 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Zscaler by 44.3% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 779,245 shares of the company’s stock worth $109,320,000 after purchasing an additional 239,326 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 46.45% of the company’s stock.

About Zscaler

Zscaler is a cloud security company that delivers a cloud-native platform to protect users, applications and data as organizations move away from traditional, network-centric security architectures. The company focuses on a zero trust approach that assumes no implicit trust for users or devices, providing secure access to the internet, SaaS applications and private applications regardless of where users are located. Zscaler positions its services as an alternative to legacy appliances and site-centric VPNs, aiming to simplify security while enabling modern, distributed workforces.

Key offerings are built around the Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange, a multi-tenant cloud platform that enforces security and access policies in-line.