Zscaler, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZS) Short Interest Up 5,477.6% in July

Key Points

• Zscaler, Inc. experienced a dramatic increase in short interest, rising by 5,477.6% in July, with a total of 6,180,000 shares sold short by mid-July.
• Insiders have recently sold a total of 200,793 shares of Zscaler stock valued at approximately $58.75 million, indicating a decrease in their ownership.
• Several major institutional investors, including Vanguard Group and Goldman Sachs, have increased their stakes in Zscaler, reflecting a growing confidence among hedge funds in the company's future prospects.

Zscaler, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZS - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totaling 6,180,000 shares, anincreaseof5,477.6% from the June 30th total of 110,800 shares. Currently,6.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 2,480,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.5 days. Based on an average trading volume of 2,480,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.5 days. Currently,6.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Syam Nair sold 28,947 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $7,236,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 110,566 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,641,500. This trade represents a 20.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Ajay Mangal sold 120,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.89, for a total transaction of $36,106,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 2,550,210 shares of the company's stock, valued at $767,332,686.90. This trade represents a 4.49% 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 quarter. Insiders own 18.10% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Zscaler

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Zscaler by 3.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,890,506 shares of the company's stock worth $1,962,474,000 after purchasing an additional 294,034 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Zscaler by 23.4% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,048,238 shares of the company's stock valued at $604,831,000 after acquiring an additional 578,883 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Zscaler in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $516,622,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Zscaler by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,658,406 shares of the company's stock valued at $298,710,000 after acquiring an additional 32,545 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Zscaler by 23.6% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,191,930 shares of the company's stock valued at $234,715,000 after acquiring an additional 227,899 shares during the period. 46.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ZS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of Zscaler from $240.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Zscaler from $295.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $260.00 price objective (up previously from $235.00) on shares of Zscaler in a research report on Friday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Zscaler from $292.00 to $348.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Zscaler from $200.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $296.82.

Zscaler Stock Performance

Shares of Zscaler stock traded down $4.80 during trading on Friday, hitting $280.76. 1,663,851 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,223,120. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $294.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $237.56. Zscaler has a 52-week low of $153.45 and a 52-week high of $318.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1,079.51 and a beta of 1.11.

Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $678.03 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $667.13 million. Zscaler had a negative net margin of 1.52% and a negative return on equity of 0.59%. The firm's revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Zscaler will post -0.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.

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