Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS) Shares Gap Up After Earnings Beat

Shares of Zscaler, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZS - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Friday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $251.11, but opened at $262.83. Zscaler shares last traded at $268.00, with a volume of 1,213,293 shares trading hands.

The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $678.03 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $667.13 million. Zscaler had a negative net margin of 1.58% and a negative return on equity of 0.75%. The business's revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ZS. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Zscaler from $245.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday. Loop Capital raised their price target on shares of Zscaler from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on shares of Zscaler from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $260.00 price target (up from $235.00) on shares of Zscaler in a research report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Zscaler from $200.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Zscaler presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $275.12.

Insider Activity at Zscaler

In other Zscaler news, CEO Jagtar Singh Chaudhry sold 2,155 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.15, for a total value of $429,168.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 356,414 shares of the company's stock, valued at $70,979,848.10. The trade was a 0.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Robert Schlossman sold 2,878 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.15, for a total transaction of $573,153.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 107,587 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,425,951.05. This represents a 2.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 241,771 shares of company stock valued at $50,165,040. Corporate insiders own 18.10% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Zscaler

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Zscaler by 127.4% during the 4th quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 141 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC grew its holdings in Zscaler by 284.8% in the 1st quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 127 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Zscaler during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Zscaler during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Colonial Trust Co SC bought a new stake in shares of Zscaler during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 46.45% of the company's stock.

Zscaler Trading Up 9.1%

The stock has a market cap of $42.40 billion, a P/E ratio of -1,096.12 and a beta of 1.14. The business's 50 day moving average price is $220.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $206.33.

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.