Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Upgraded to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Qualys from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Qualys from $212.00 to $180.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Qualys from $146.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Stephens reaffirmed an equal weight rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Qualys in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Wedbush lowered their price target on Qualys from $230.00 to $210.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $153.23.

Qualys Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:QLYS opened at $162.05 on Friday. Qualys has a 12 month low of $107.00 and a 12 month high of $206.35. The company has a market capitalization of $5.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.11 and a beta of 0.51. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $167.28 and its 200 day moving average is $175.14.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The software maker reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.26. Qualys had a return on equity of 49.06% and a net margin of 27.34%. The firm had revenue of $144.57 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $144.69 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Qualys will post 3.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.78, for a total transaction of $197,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 63,255 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,510,573.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 4,120 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.62, for a total value of $690,594.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 194,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,598,905.22. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,000 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.78, for a total transaction of $197,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 63,255 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,510,573.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 10,315 shares of company stock worth $1,750,397. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qualys

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of QLYS. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Qualys by 46.9% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 250,661 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $38,238,000 after purchasing an additional 80,079 shares in the last quarter. Burney Co. grew its stake in shares of Qualys by 15.9% during the third quarter. Burney Co. now owns 83,984 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $12,812,000 after acquiring an additional 11,496 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its holdings in shares of Qualys by 24.1% during the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 89,802 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $13,699,000 after acquiring an additional 17,456 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Qualys by 59.4% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 109,447 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $16,696,000 after purchasing an additional 40,779 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Graham Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Qualys in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,329,000. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.