FirstWave Capital Management LLC Makes New $1.88 Million Investment in Zscaler, Inc. $ZS

FirstWave Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Zscaler, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZS) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 13,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,884,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Zscaler during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,396,028,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in Zscaler by 36.2% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,518,678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $493,635,000 after purchasing an additional 935,781 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Zscaler by 43.3% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,572,358 shares of the company’s stock worth $578,576,000 after purchasing an additional 777,414 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Zscaler by 61.8% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,941,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $576,083,000 after purchasing an additional 741,756 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Zscaler during the 2nd quarter valued at about $102,271,000. 46.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ZS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Zscaler in a research report on Wednesday. Berenberg Bank set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Zscaler in a report on Thursday, May 28th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Zscaler from $178.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Zscaler in a research note on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Zscaler from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Thirty-four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Zscaler has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $217.08.

Zscaler Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ZS opened at $169.80 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $161.26 and its 200-day moving average is $150.53. The company has a market cap of $27.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -435.38, a PEG ratio of 104.65 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.86 and a current ratio of 1.86. Zscaler, Inc. has a 52-week low of $114.63 and a 52-week high of $336.99.

Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS) last released its 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 business had revenue of $898.19 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $876.96 million. Zscaler had a positive return on equity of 1.29% and a negative net margin of 1.88%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business 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. Equities research analysts anticipate that Zscaler, Inc. will post 0.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Zscaler

In related news, CEO Jagtar Chaudhry sold 2,878 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.43, for a total value of $363,865.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 343,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,370,294.34. This trade represents a 0.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Kevin Rubin sold 3,000 shares of Zscaler stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 41,901 shares in the company, valued at $5,204,942.22. This represents a 6.68% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over 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.

Key Zscaler News

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

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.