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

Shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) have been assigned an average rating of “Reduce” from the eighteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, thirteen have given a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $152.80.

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Qualys from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Qualys from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Qualys from $150.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC assumed coverage on Qualys in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.66, for a total transaction of $1,047,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 225,453 shares of the company’s stock, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 855 shares of Qualys 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 63,177 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,986,296.48. This represents a 1.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 30,377 shares of company stock worth $4,454,973. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qualys

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Qualys during the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Qualys by 80.8% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 432 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of Qualys by 53.6% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 639 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Qualys in the 4th quarter worth approximately $91,000. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Qualys by 68.6% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 730 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.31% of the company’s stock.

Qualys Stock Performance

QLYS stock opened at $136.96 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $145.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $135.69. Qualys has a fifty-two week low of $119.17 and a fifty-two week high of $201.03. The company has a market cap of $5.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.17 and a beta of 0.57.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The software maker reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $153.87 million for 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.24 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Qualys will post 4.34 earnings per share for the current 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.