Canaccord Genuity Group Cuts Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Price Target to $163.00

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) had its target price reduced by Canaccord Genuity Group from $170.00 to $163.00 in a research report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the software maker’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on QLYS. StockNews.com raised shares of Qualys from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Qualys from $150.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Qualys from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on Qualys from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Qualys currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $146.14.

Qualys Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:QLYS opened at $135.57 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $143.05 and its 200 day moving average is $135.53. The company has a market capitalization of $4.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.15 and a beta of 0.56. Qualys has a fifty-two week low of $119.17 and a fifty-two week high of $174.73.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.16). Qualys had a return on equity of 39.64% and a net margin of 28.59%. As a group, research analysts predict that Qualys will post 4.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 8,555 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.62, for a total value of $1,322,774.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 64,032 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,900,627.84. This represents a 11.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,332 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.37, for a total transaction of $209,616.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 113,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,885,415.24. This trade represents a 1.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 31,259 shares of company stock worth $4,578,153. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Qualys

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Qualys by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,749 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $806,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Qualys during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,310,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Qualys by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,139 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $721,000 after purchasing an additional 473 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Qualys during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,775,000. Finally, Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Qualys during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,640,000. 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.