Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) Receives $146.57 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the seventeen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $146.57.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on QLYS shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a research note on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com raised Qualys from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Northland Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $146.00 price objective (down previously from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on shares of Qualys from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their price target on Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th.

Qualys Trading Down 1.2 %

QLYS stock opened at $121.57 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.14 and a beta of 0.56. Qualys has a twelve month low of $119.17 and a twelve month high of $174.20. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $136.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $135.88.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.16). Qualys had a net margin of 28.59% and a return on equity of 38.52%. On average, research analysts predict that Qualys will post 3.85 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Qualys

In other Qualys news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 855 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.24, for a total value of $121,615.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 63,177 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,986,296.48. The trade was a 1.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 225,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,321,173.97. The trade was a 3.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 26,926 shares of company stock worth $3,745,742 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Qualys

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in QLYS. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Qualys during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Qualys during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Qualys by 88.1% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 333 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Qualys in the 4th quarter worth approximately $54,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in shares of Qualys by 33.9% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 391 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.31% of the company’s stock.

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.