Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Upgraded to Buy at StockNews.com

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on QLYS. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Qualys from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Northland Securities restated a “market perform” rating and set a $146.00 price target (down previously from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $146.57.

Qualys Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:QLYS opened at $143.76 on Friday. Qualys has a twelve month low of $119.17 and a twelve month high of $174.31. The company’s 50 day moving average is $141.33 and its 200 day moving average is $135.46. The company has a market cap of $5.26 billion, a PE ratio of 30.92 and a beta of 0.56.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Qualys will post 4.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.49, for a total transaction of $941,430.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 225,453 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,321,173.97. The trade was a 3.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 8,555 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.62, for a total transaction of $1,322,774.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 64,032 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,900,627.84. This represents a 11.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 29,288 shares of company stock worth $4,209,716. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Truist Financial Corp lifted its position in Qualys by 42.1% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,751 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $250,000 after buying an additional 519 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Qualys by 53.6% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 639 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the period. Creative Planning boosted its position in shares of Qualys by 60.9% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 6,580 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $845,000 after acquiring an additional 2,491 shares during the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Qualys by 40.3% during the 3rd quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 2,605 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $335,000 after acquiring an additional 748 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Qualys in the third quarter valued at about $1,937,000. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.