Zscaler Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:ZS)

Zscaler, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZS) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders acquired 48,238 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 55% compared to the average volume of 31,072 call options.

Zscaler Price Performance

ZS stock traded up $13.78 during trading on Monday, hitting $153.51. 6,642,664 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,443,377. Zscaler has a one year low of $114.63 and a one year high of $336.99. The stock has a market cap of $24.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -319.89 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $144.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $188.63.

Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 26th. The company reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.07. Zscaler had a negative net margin of 2.44% and a negative return on equity of 0.37%. The company had revenue of $850.48 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $835.14 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.84 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 25.4% on a year-over-year basis. Zscaler has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 1.080-1.090 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 4.100-4.110 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Zscaler will post -0.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Zscaler in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Evercore set a $155.00 target price on shares of Zscaler and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. B. Riley Financial lowered their target price on shares of Zscaler from $225.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Citizens Jmp lowered their target price on shares of Zscaler from $290.00 to $210.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Zscaler from $190.00 to $175.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Thirty-three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $216.03.

Insider Buying and Selling at Zscaler

In other news, CFO Kevin Rubin sold 1,682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.59, for a total transaction of $263,384.38. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 46,479 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,278,146.61. This trade represents a 3.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Adam Geller sold 2,094 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.53, for a total transaction of $321,491.82. Following the transaction, the insider owned 46,949 shares in the company, valued at $7,208,079.97. This represents a 4.27% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 12,130 shares of company stock worth $1,892,487 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 17.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ZS. Westpac Banking Corp boosted its holdings in Zscaler by 919.0% during the third quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 9,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,992,000 after purchasing an additional 9,006 shares during the last quarter. Korea Investment CORP raised its position in Zscaler by 24.0% during the third quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 98,370 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,478,000 after acquiring an additional 19,026 shares in the last quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 8,099 shares in the last quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd raised its position in Zscaler by 136.1% during the third quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 11,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,400,000 after acquiring an additional 6,541 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oxbow Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Zscaler during the fourth quarter worth $2,939,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.45% of the company’s stock.

Zscaler Company Profile

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.