Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Earns “Market Perform” Rating from Northland Securities

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS)‘s stock had its “market perform” rating restated by research analysts at Northland Securities in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $140.00 price target on the software maker’s stock, down from their prior price target of $150.00. Northland Securities’ price objective indicates a potential upside of 11.34% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on QLYS. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a research report on Monday. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Qualys from $116.00 to $115.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Qualys from $170.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Scotiabank started coverage on Qualys in a report on Friday, April 26th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $172.00 target price for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a report on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Qualys presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $153.92.

Qualys Price Performance

Shares of QLYS traded down $11.36 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $125.74. 1,002,279 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 452,976. Qualys has a 52 week low of $121.64 and a 52 week high of $206.35. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $140.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $157.54. The company has a market cap of $4.64 billion, a PE ratio of 29.40 and a beta of 0.49.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last released 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 net margin of 28.48% and a return on equity of 47.28%. The business had revenue of $148.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $148.80 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Qualys will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Qualys

In other news, Director Wendy Pfeiffer sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.72, for a total transaction of $291,440.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,490 shares in the company, valued at $1,237,162.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Wendy Pfeiffer sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.72, for a total value of $291,440.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,490 shares in the company, valued at $1,237,162.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,339 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.35, for a total value of $191,945.65. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 58,947 shares in the company, valued at $8,450,052.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,099 shares of company stock worth $4,060,450 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Qualys

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in shares of Qualys in the 4th quarter worth $18,844,000. Dorsey Wright & Associates bought a new position in shares of Qualys in the 4th quarter worth $4,455,000. Intrust Bank NA lifted its holdings in shares of Qualys by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 4,984 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $978,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Qualys in the 4th quarter worth $3,731,000. Finally, Roberts Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Qualys during the 1st quarter valued at $863,000. 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.