Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS) Stock Price Down 5.5% – Should You Sell?

Zscaler, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZS) shares were down 5.5% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $178.15 and last traded at $178.0670. 775,379 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 3,315,786 shares. The stock had previously closed at $188.38.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ZS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Zscaler in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Zscaler from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Zscaler from $185.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Zacks Research raised Zscaler from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Berenberg Bank set a $200.00 price target on Zscaler in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Thirty-four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $216.18.

Zscaler Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $157.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $150.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.86 and a current ratio of 1.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -370.91, a P/E/G ratio of 108.43 and a beta of 0.94.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Robert Schlossman sold 3,146 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.43, for a total transaction of $397,748.78. Following the transaction, the insider owned 69,366 shares in the company, valued at $8,769,943.38. The trade was a 4.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Jagtar Singh Chaudhry sold 2,878 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.43, for a total transaction of $363,865.54. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 343,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,370,294.34. This represents a 0.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last three months, insiders have sold 16,772 shares of company stock valued at $2,139,799. Company insiders own 17.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Zscaler

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund raised its stake in Zscaler by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 2,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $770,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Zscaler by 10.9% during the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 397 shares of the company’s stock valued at $119,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Zscaler by 7.5% during the second quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 648 shares of the company’s stock worth $204,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in Zscaler by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,040 shares of the company’s stock valued at $611,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its position in Zscaler by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 976 shares of the company’s stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.