Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Stock Price

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) had its price target raised by Morgan Stanley from $123.00 to $126.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an underweight rating on the software maker’s stock.

QLYS has been the subject of several other reports. UBS Group reduced their price target on Qualys from $170.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Wedbush decreased their price objective on shares of Qualys from $190.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a research note on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com cut Qualys from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 3rd. Finally, Northland Securities restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $140.00 price target (down previously from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $152.80.

Qualys Trading Up 24.2 %

QLYS stock opened at $159.23 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $124.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $136.32. The company has a market capitalization of $5.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.07 and a beta of 0.47. Qualys has a twelve month low of $119.17 and a twelve month high of $206.35.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The software maker reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.20. Qualys had a return on equity of 44.80% and a net margin of 29.36%. The company had revenue of $148.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $148.80 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.95 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Qualys will post 3.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,339 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.56, for a total value of $165,446.84. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 55,279 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,830,273.24. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,339 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.56, for a total value of $165,446.84. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 55,279 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,830,273.24. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total value of $876,470.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 179,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,493,851.29. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 10,919 shares of company stock worth $1,360,140. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Qualys

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its stake in Qualys by 36.6% during the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 20,576 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $3,374,000 after buying an additional 5,508 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in Qualys by 2,459.9% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 43,135 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $6,151,000 after purchasing an additional 41,450 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund acquired a new position in Qualys in the first quarter worth $1,139,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its holdings in shares of Qualys by 13.5% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 108,304 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $18,048,000 after purchasing an additional 12,915 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Qualys by 57.7% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 13,672 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,950,000 after buying an additional 5,004 shares in the last quarter. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by 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.