Brokerages Set Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) Price Target at $152.80

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

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wedbush lowered their price objective on Qualys from $190.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Qualys from $116.00 to $115.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Qualys from $120.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Qualys from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Qualys from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th.

Qualys Trading Up 1.3 %

QLYS stock opened at $157.61 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $135.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $135.00. Qualys has a 12-month low of $119.17 and a 12-month high of $206.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.77 billion, a PE ratio of 34.72 and a beta of 0.54.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last announced 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. Qualys had a net margin of 28.72% and a return on equity of 40.24%. The firm had revenue of $153.87 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $150.74 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.24 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Qualys will post 4.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Qualys

In other Qualys news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total transaction of $876,470.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 179,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,493,851.29. The trade was a 3.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 634 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.19, for a total value of $77,468.46. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 85,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,501,252.98. The trade was a 0.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 30,474 shares of company stock worth $4,315,774. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Qualys by 8.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 39,603 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $4,968,000 after buying an additional 2,972 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp grew its position in Qualys by 16.3% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 16,772 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $2,155,000 after acquiring an additional 2,356 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Qualys by 70.5% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 2,472 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $318,000 after purchasing an additional 1,022 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Qualys by 30.8% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 4,919 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $632,000 after purchasing an additional 1,159 shares during the period. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Qualys by 16.3% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,650 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.