Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Given New $126.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

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

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on QLYS. Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a research note on Monday, August 5th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on Qualys from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Qualys in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $135.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank reduced their target price on Qualys from $167.00 to $150.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Wedbush decreased their price target 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $152.80.

Qualys Stock Performance

QLYS opened at $153.99 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $126.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $136.10. Qualys has a 52 week low of $119.17 and a 52 week high of $206.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.63 billion, a PE ratio of 33.92 and a beta of 0.47.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The software maker reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $153.87 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $150.74 million. Qualys had a return on equity of 40.24% and a net margin of 28.72%. Qualys’s revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.24 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Qualys will post 3.94 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Qualys news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 616 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.54, for a total transaction of $76,100.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 86,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,695,599.04. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,339 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The shares were 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 owns 55,279 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,830,273.24. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 616 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.54, for a total transaction of $76,100.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 86,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,695,599.04. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 10,919 shares of company stock valued at $1,360,140. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qualys

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

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.