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

Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seventeen brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, thirteen have assigned a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $144.36.

Several research firms have recently commented on QLYS. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price target on Qualys from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Qualys from $162.00 to $135.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Qualys in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $120.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th.

Qualys Price Performance

QLYS stock opened at $118.59 on Friday. Qualys has a 1-year low of $116.67 and a 1-year high of $174.20. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $133.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $136.31. The company has a market capitalization of $4.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.50 and a beta of 0.56.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.16). Qualys had a net margin of 28.59% and a return on equity of 38.52%. On average, analysts anticipate that Qualys will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.49, for a total transaction of $941,430.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 225,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,321,173.97. 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 available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,635 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.64, for a total value of $226,676.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 112,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,530,036.88. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 26,595 shares of company stock worth $3,691,922. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qualys

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. 111 Capital purchased a new stake in Qualys during the fourth quarter worth $299,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Qualys by 31.6% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,110 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $436,000 after acquiring an additional 746 shares in the last quarter. Cim LLC grew its position in shares of Qualys by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Cim LLC now owns 8,463 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,187,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Qualys in the 4th quarter valued at about $273,000. Finally, Formidable Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Qualys by 58.2% in the 4th quarter. Formidable Asset Management LLC now owns 8,068 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,131,000 after purchasing an additional 2,967 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.31% of the company’s stock.

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.