Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS) Trading Down 4.9% – Here’s What Happened

Zscaler, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZS)’s share price was down 4.9% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $190.31 and last traded at $190.54. Approximately 1,372,805 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 33% from the average daily volume of 2,046,168 shares. The stock had previously closed at $200.45.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ZS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Zscaler from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Zscaler in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of Zscaler from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Zscaler in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $180.00 target price on the stock. Finally, BTIG Research boosted their target price on shares of Zscaler from $205.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $224.84.

Zscaler Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $28.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -742.76 and a beta of 0.82. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $197.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $187.59.

Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 2nd. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.14. Zscaler had a negative return on equity of 0.75% and a negative net margin of 1.58%. The business had revenue of $628.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $605.51 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.18) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 26.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Zscaler, Inc. will post -0.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Andrew William Fraser Brown sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.10, for a total transaction of $1,392,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 25,907 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,510,408.70. The trade was a 23.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Robert Schlossman sold 1,435 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.70, for a total value of $260,739.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 105,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,224,950.20. This trade represents a 1.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,382 shares of company stock valued at $2,495,618. 18.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Zscaler

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ZS. Fred Alger Management LLC lifted its stake in Zscaler by 1,151.0% in the third quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 10,371 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,773,000 after buying an additional 9,542 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its stake in Zscaler by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 221,212 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,495,000 after purchasing an additional 14,701 shares during the period. Creative Planning grew its position in Zscaler by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 148,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,390,000 after purchasing an additional 10,551 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Zscaler by 11.0% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 380,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,036,000 after purchasing an additional 37,801 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new stake in shares of Zscaler in the second quarter valued at about $25,287,000. 46.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Zscaler Company Profile

Zscaler, Inc operates as a cloud security company worldwide. The company offers Zscaler Internet Access solution that provides users, workloads, IoT, and OT devices secure access to externally managed applications, including software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications and internet destinations; and Zscaler Private Access solution, which is designed to provide access to managed applications hosted internally in data centers, and private or public clouds.