Zscaler Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:ZS)

Zscaler, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZS) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors purchased 26,504 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 114% compared to the typical volume of 12,369 put options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Raj Judge sold 3,438 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.82, for a total value of $793,559.16. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 70,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,248,343.08. This represents a 4.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Robert Schlossman sold 7,006 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.57, for a total transaction of $2,140,823.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 76,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,263,655.24. This trade represents a 8.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 28,903 shares of company stock worth $7,504,284. 17.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Zscaler

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ZS. Compound Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in Zscaler in the first quarter worth about $226,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its holdings in shares of Zscaler by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 19,074 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,785,000 after purchasing an additional 1,551 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Zscaler by 25.1% in the 1st quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 603 shares of the company’s stock worth $125,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Zscaler in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Comerica Bank boosted its stake in shares of Zscaler by 138.5% during the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 13,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,721,000 after purchasing an additional 7,965 shares in the last quarter. 46.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Zscaler Trading Down 0.1%

NASDAQ ZS opened at $229.16 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $36.54 billion, a PE ratio of -881.35, a PEG ratio of 4,397.19 and a beta of 1.07. Zscaler has a 12 month low of $164.78 and a 12 month high of $336.99. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $280.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $287.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 25th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $788.11 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $773.86 million. Zscaler had a negative net margin of 1.45% and a negative return on equity of 0.12%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 25.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.77 EPS. Zscaler has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.780-3.820 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.890-0.900 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Zscaler will post -0.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating on shares of Zscaler in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Zscaler in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Zscaler from $350.00 to $366.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Loop Capital set a $320.00 price target on Zscaler in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Zscaler from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-three have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $322.66.

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.