Zscaler, Inc. $ZS Stock: VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Raises Stake

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al lifted its position in Zscaler, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZS) by 57.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 40,022 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 14,600 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in Zscaler were worth $7,981,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ZS. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Zscaler during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,396,028,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Zscaler by 36.2% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,518,678 shares of the company’s stock worth $493,635,000 after purchasing an additional 935,781 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Zscaler in the second quarter worth approximately $102,271,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Zscaler in the second quarter worth approximately $89,740,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Zscaler in the second quarter worth approximately $66,406,000. 46.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Robert Schlossman sold 5,394 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,078,800.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 61,525 shares in the company, valued at $12,305,000. This trade represents a 8.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Adam Geller sold 23,958 shares of Zscaler stock in a transaction on Friday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.43, for a total transaction of $5,400,851.94. Following the transaction, the insider owned 38,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,635,772.44. This trade represents a 38.48% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 54,064 shares of company stock valued at $11,316,078. Company insiders own 17.20% of the company’s stock.

Zscaler Trading Down 4.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:ZS opened at $237.83 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $204.19 and a 200 day moving average of $167.61. The company has a market cap of $38.78 billion, a PE ratio of -609.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 22.61 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Zscaler, Inc. has a 12-month low of $114.63 and a 12-month high of $336.99.

Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 3rd. The company reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.10. Zscaler had a negative net margin of 1.88% and a positive return on equity of 1.23%. The company had revenue of $898.19 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $876.96 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 24.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Zscaler has set its FY 2027 guidance at 4.860-4.900 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.150-1.160 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Zscaler, Inc. will post 0.70 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on ZS. Stephens upped their target price on shares of Zscaler from $225.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. BTIG Research reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Zscaler in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Zscaler from $214.00 to $254.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Zscaler from $245.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Zscaler from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. Thirty-six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.65.

Zscaler Profile

Zscaler, Inc is a cloud-based cybersecurity company that helps organizations secure access to applications, websites, data and other digital resources. Its platform is designed around a zero-trust security model, which verifies users and devices and enforces security policies before granting access, rather than relying primarily on a traditional corporate network perimeter.

The company’s offerings include Zscaler Internet Access, which provides secure access to internet and software-as-a-service applications, and Zscaler Private Access, which enables secure access to private applications without extending an organization’s network to users.