Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage issued an underweight rating and a $120.00 price objective on the software maker’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Qualys from $162.00 to $135.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on shares of Qualys from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Qualys from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $146.14.

Qualys Stock Up 0.1 %

QLYS stock opened at $130.61 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $136.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $136.11. Qualys has a 52-week low of $119.17 and a 52-week high of $174.20. The firm has a market cap of $4.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.09 and a beta of 0.56.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last posted its 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 return on equity of 38.52% and a net margin of 28.59%. On average, analysts anticipate that Qualys will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Qualys

In related news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.49, for a total value of $941,430.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 225,453 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,321,173.97. This trade represents a 3.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 855 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.24, for a total transaction of $121,615.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 63,177 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,986,296.48. This trade represents a 1.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 26,926 shares of company stock worth $3,745,742 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Qualys

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Qualys by 208.5% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 86,187 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $11,072,000 after purchasing an additional 58,252 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Qualys by 428.9% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 18,256 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $2,345,000 after buying an additional 14,804 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Qualys by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 456,540 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $64,016,000 after buying an additional 3,848 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Qualys by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 7,833 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,095,000 after buying an additional 933 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Qualys by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 63,320 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $8,134,000 after buying an additional 4,040 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.