Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) Receives Average Recommendation of “Reduce” from Analysts

Shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) have been given an average recommendation of “Reduce” by the twelve brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $153.23.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Qualys from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 13th. Wedbush decreased their price target on shares of Qualys from $230.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Qualys from $146.00 to $152.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Qualys in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Qualys in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $170.00 target price for the company.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Qualys news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 4,120 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.62, for a total transaction of $690,594.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 194,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,598,905.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Qualys news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 4,120 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.62, for a total transaction of $690,594.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 194,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,598,905.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 4,034 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.96, for a total transaction of $661,414.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 193,608 shares in the company, valued at $31,743,967.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 14,349 shares of company stock worth $2,411,812. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Qualys

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norden Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Qualys by 1,806.6% in the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 81,871 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $13,662,000 after purchasing an additional 77,577 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Qualys by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 9,076 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,515,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Qualys by 78.6% in the 1st quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. now owns 103,755 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $17,314,000 after purchasing an additional 45,675 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Qualys by 58.0% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 10,361 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,729,000 after purchasing an additional 3,804 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Roberts Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Qualys in the 1st quarter worth approximately $863,000. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Qualys Stock Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ:QLYS opened at $163.55 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $6.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.48 and a beta of 0.51. Qualys has a fifty-two week low of $107.00 and a fifty-two week high of $206.35. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $166.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $175.12.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The software maker reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $144.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $144.69 million. Qualys had a net margin of 27.34% and a return on equity of 49.06%. Research analysts forecast that Qualys will post 3.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.