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

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

QLYS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Qualys from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Qualys from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wolfe Research raised Qualys from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Qualys from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th.

Qualys Stock Down 0.9 %

QLYS stock opened at $155.38 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $137.39 and a 200 day moving average of $135.32. The firm has a market cap of $5.69 billion, a PE ratio of 34.22 and a beta of 0.54. Qualys has a twelve month low of $119.17 and a twelve month high of $206.35.

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

Insider Activity

In other Qualys news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,330 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.80, for a total transaction of $164,654.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 55,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,885,508.40. This trade represents a 2.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total transaction of $876,470.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 179,649 shares in the company, valued at $22,493,851.29. This trade represents a 3.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,190 shares of company stock worth $4,449,290 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Qualys

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Qualys by 294.7% during the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 225 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Qualys by 149.0% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 239 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Qualys during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. DT Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Qualys in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Qualys by 53.6% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 639 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. 99.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.