Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $140.00 to $160.00. The stock had previously closed at $128.23, but opened at $153.75. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Qualys shares last traded at $148.63, with a volume of 397,348 shares traded.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on QLYS. StockNews.com downgraded Qualys from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 3rd. Needham & Company LLC assumed coverage on shares of Qualys in a report on Wednesday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Qualys from $167.00 to $150.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Qualys from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wedbush reduced their price objective on Qualys from $190.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $152.80.

Insider Transactions at Qualys

In other Qualys news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,339 shares of the company’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 transaction of $165,446.84. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 55,279 shares in the company, valued at $6,830,273.24. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total value of $876,470.00. Following the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $165,446.84. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 55,279 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,830,273.24. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,919 shares of company stock worth $1,360,140 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in Qualys by 294.7% during the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 225 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Qualys by 149.0% in the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 239 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Qualys in the second quarter worth about $40,000. DT Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in Qualys during the 2nd quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position in Qualys by 53.6% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 639 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.31% of the company’s stock.

Qualys Trading Up 24.2 %

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $124.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $136.32. The firm has a market cap of $5.86 billion, a PE ratio of 35.07 and a beta of 0.47.

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