Allianz Asset Management GmbH Lowers Stock Holdings in Zscaler, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZS)

Key Points

• Allianz Asset Management GmbH significantly reduced its stake in Zscaler, selling 120,672 shares and holding only 8,369 shares afterward, reflecting a 93.5% decrease in ownership.
• Several institutional investors have shown varying levels of interest, with Norges Bank acquiring a new stake valued at $32.2 million and Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increasing their position by 315.2%.
• Zscaler's stock is currently rated as a "Moderate Buy" by analysts, who have set an average price target of $296.82, with several firms issuing upgraded ratings recently.

Allianz Asset Management GmbH cut its holdings in shares of Zscaler, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZS - Free Report) by 93.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,369 shares of the company's stock after selling 120,672 shares during the quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH's holdings in Zscaler were worth $1,664,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ZS. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Zscaler by 43.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 641 shares of the company's stock valued at $127,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in Zscaler by 47.4% in the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,002 shares of the company's stock worth $211,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC grew its position in Zscaler by 36.4% in the first quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC now owns 1,667 shares of the company's stock worth $331,000 after acquiring an additional 445 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its position in Zscaler by 42.0% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 6,197 shares of the company's stock worth $1,230,000 after acquiring an additional 1,832 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Zscaler in the fourth quarter worth about $32,158,000. 46.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Zscaler Stock Down 0.8%

ZS traded down $2.17 on Thursday, reaching $285.56. The company had a trading volume of 1,774,524 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,569,447. Zscaler, Inc. has a 1 year low of $153.45 and a 1 year high of $318.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.46 billion, a PE ratio of -1,098.31 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $294.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $237.56.

Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.08. Zscaler had a negative net margin of 1.52% and a negative return on equity of 0.59%. The business had revenue of $678.03 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $667.13 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Zscaler, Inc. will post -0.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Zscaler

In other Zscaler news, insider Adam Geller sold 3,662 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.72, for a total value of $1,123,208.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 46,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,358,483.36. This trade represents a 7.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jagtar Singh Chaudhry sold 2,849 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.70, for a total transaction of $865,241.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 353,565 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $107,377,690.50. This trade represents a 0.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 200,793 shares of company stock valued at $58,752,794 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 18.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on ZS. Mizuho boosted their target price on Zscaler from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Zscaler in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Zscaler from $240.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Zscaler from $235.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $260.00 price objective (up previously from $235.00) on shares of Zscaler in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $296.82.

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.