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

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

A number of brokerages have weighed in on QLYS. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Qualys from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Qualys from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Qualys from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Qualys from $150.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th.

Qualys Price Performance

QLYS stock opened at $143.14 on Monday. Qualys has a 1 year low of $119.17 and a 1 year high of $199.37. The company has a market cap of $5.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.53 and a beta of 0.57. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $144.75 and a 200 day moving average of $135.70.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Qualys news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.66, for a total value of $1,047,620.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 225,453 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,741,295.98. This trade represents a 3.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 882 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.66, for a total transaction of $123,180.12. Following the sale, the insider now owns 62,295 shares in the company, valued at $8,700,119.70. The trade was a 1.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 31,259 shares of company stock worth $4,578,153. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Qualys

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Trust Point Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Qualys during the 4th quarter valued at $376,000. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its position in shares of Qualys by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,049,623 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $147,178,000 after purchasing an additional 123,530 shares during the period. Willis Investment Counsel raised its position in shares of Qualys by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Willis Investment Counsel now owns 10,629 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,490,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares during the period. Norris Perne & French LLP MI increased its holdings in Qualys by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI now owns 114,700 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $16,083,000 after acquiring an additional 882 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in Qualys by 62.5% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 52,024 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $7,295,000 after acquiring an additional 20,000 shares during the last quarter. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Qualys Company Profile

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.