The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Invests $969,000 in Zscaler, Inc. $ZS

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company initiated a Zscaler position worth approximately $969,000 by purchasing 6,862 shares in the second quarter. Institutional investors collectively own 46.45% of Zscaler.
• Zscaler exceeded fiscal fourth-quarter expectations, reporting adjusted EPS of $1.19 and revenue of $898.2 million, with revenue and ARR each rising about 25% year over year. However, management expects fiscal 2027 growth to slow to roughly 17%, while free cash flow fell 65% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains generally positive, with 34 Buy, six Hold and two Sell ratings and a consensus price target of $215.90. Company insiders sold 16,772 shares worth approximately $2.14 million over the past 90 days.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in shares of Zscaler, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZS - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 6,862 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $969,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of Zscaler by 19.9% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,439 shares of the company's stock valued at $285,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Zscaler by 8.2% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,899 shares of the company's stock worth $972,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Zscaler by 9.2% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,811 shares of the company's stock worth $558,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Zscaler during the second quarter worth $252,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Zscaler during the second quarter worth $3,019,000. 46.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Zscaler news, CFO Kevin Rubin sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.22, for a total transaction of $372,660.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 41,901 shares in the company, valued at $5,204,942.22. This trade represents a 6.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Jagtar Chaudhry sold 2,878 shares of Zscaler stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.43, for a total transaction of $363,865.54. Following the completion of 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 position. 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. Insiders sold a total of 16,772 shares of company stock valued at $2,139,799 over the last 90 days. 17.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Zscaler

Here are the key news stories impacting Zscaler this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong fiscal fourth-quarter results: Zscaler reported adjusted EPS of $1.19 versus the $1.09 consensus and revenue of $898.2 million versus $877.0 million expected. Revenue and annual recurring revenue (ARR) each increased 25% year over year, while non-GAAP operating margin reached a record 24%. Zscaler Announces Strong Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2026 Financial Results
• Positive Sentiment: AI and platform demand remain catalysts: Management highlighted growing demand for Security for AI, Agentic SecOps, non-seat-based products and large enterprise deals. Analysts including Baird, Stephens, Needham, Canaccord and Cantor raised price targets, generally citing the earnings beat and potential for conservative guidance to be exceeded. Zscaler Analysts Boost Their Forecasts After Better-Than-Expected Q4 Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst opinion is divided: Some analysts called the fiscal 2027 outlook overly cautious and maintained bullish ratings, while others noted that the forecast reflects competitive pressure, the Red Canary acquisition and a more measured growth profile.
• Negative Sentiment: Fiscal 2027 growth is expected to decelerate: Zscaler guided for revenue growth of 16.6% to 17.5% and ARR growth of 16.6% to 17.4%, well below the 25% growth delivered in fiscal 2026. The slower outlook overshadowed the quarterly beat and renewed valuation concerns for high-growth cybersecurity stocks. Zscaler Fiscal 2027 Growth Forecast
• Negative Sentiment: Free cash flow weakened sharply: Fourth-quarter free cash flow fell 65% year over year to $60.8 million, versus approximately $66.9 million expected, as capital expenditures and internal-use software spending increased. Zscaler also announced a restructuring affecting about 3% of its workforce, adding execution concerns. Zscaler Shares Fall Despite Earnings Beat

Zscaler Trading Down 4.5%

Zscaler stock opened at $169.80 on Friday. Zscaler, Inc. has a one year low of $114.63 and a one year high of $336.99. The company's fifty day moving average price is $161.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $150.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.86 and a quick ratio of 1.86. The company has a market capitalization of $27.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -435.38, a PEG ratio of 99.94 and a beta of 0.95.

Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 3rd. The company reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $898.19 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $876.96 million. Zscaler had a positive return on equity of 1.29% and a negative net margin of 1.88%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 24.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.89 earnings per share. Zscaler has set its FY 2027 guidance at 4.860-4.900 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.150-1.160 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Zscaler, Inc. will post 0.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on ZS shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Zscaler from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings raised Zscaler from a "sell (e+)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $214.00 price target on shares of Zscaler in a report on Friday. Berenberg Bank set a $200.00 price target on Zscaler in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, B. Riley Financial lowered their price target on Zscaler from $225.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Thirty-four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Zscaler has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $215.90.

Zscaler 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.

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This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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