Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) Receives Average Recommendation of “Reduce” from Analysts

Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) has earned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the eighteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, thirteen have assigned a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $152.80.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on QLYS. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Qualys from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Qualys from $120.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Qualys from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Qualys from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Qualys from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 855 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.24, for a total value of $121,615.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 63,177 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,986,296.48. This trade represents a 1.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 634 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.19, for a total value of $77,468.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 85,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,501,252.98. The trade was a 0.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 30,715 shares of company stock worth $4,406,251 over the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Qualys

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Qualys by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 39,603 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $4,968,000 after acquiring an additional 2,972 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Qualys by 16.3% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 16,772 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $2,155,000 after purchasing an additional 2,356 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Qualys by 70.5% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 2,472 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $318,000 after purchasing an additional 1,022 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Qualys by 30.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 4,919 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $632,000 after buying an additional 1,159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Qualys by 16.3% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,650 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $212,000 after buying an additional 231 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.31% of the company’s stock.

Qualys Price Performance

Shares of Qualys stock opened at $141.59 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $142.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $135.81. The company has a market cap of $5.18 billion, a PE ratio of 31.19 and a beta of 0.54. Qualys has a fifty-two week low of $119.17 and a fifty-two week high of $205.00.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The software maker reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.23. Qualys had a net margin of 28.72% and a return on equity of 40.24%. The firm had revenue of $153.87 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $150.74 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.24 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Qualys will post 4.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Qualys

Qualys, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides cloud-based platform delivering information technology (IT), security, and compliance solutions in the United States and internationally. It offers Qualys Cloud Apps, which include Cybersecurity Asset Management and External Attack Surface Management; Vulnerability Management, Detection and Response; Web Application Scanning; Patch Management; Custom Assessment and Remediation; Multi-Vector Endpoint Detection and Response; Context Extended Detection and Response; Policy Compliance; File Integrity Monitoring; and Qualys TotalCloud, as well as Cloud Workload Protection, Cloud Detection and Response, Cloud Security Posture Management, Infrastructure as Code, and Container Security.