Qualys’ (QLYS) Market Perform Rating Reaffirmed at Northland Securities

Northland Securities restated their market perform rating on shares of Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $146.00 price objective on the software maker’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $150.00.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com raised Qualys from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Loop Capital cut 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. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Qualys from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Qualys from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $146.57.

Qualys Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of Qualys stock opened at $137.70 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $5.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.61 and a beta of 0.56. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $143.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $135.53. Qualys has a 52-week low of $119.17 and a 52-week high of $174.31.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last released 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 return on equity of 39.64% and a net margin of 28.59%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Qualys will post 4.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Qualys

In other news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.66, for a total value of $1,047,620.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 225,453 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,741,295.98. This represents a 3.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 882 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.66, for a total transaction of $123,180.12. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 62,295 shares in the company, valued at $8,700,119.70. This represents a 1.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 31,259 shares of company stock valued at $4,578,153. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Qualys

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in QLYS. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Qualys by 1,386.2% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 355,699 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $49,876,000 after purchasing an additional 331,766 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its stake in Qualys by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,049,623 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $147,178,000 after purchasing an additional 123,530 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Qualys in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $15,937,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Qualys by 208.5% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 86,187 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $11,072,000 after purchasing an additional 58,252 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Qualys by 101.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 112,214 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $14,415,000 after buying an additional 56,613 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.