Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday after Truist Financial lowered their price target on the stock from $165.00 to $130.00. The stock had previously closed at $137.10, but opened at $129.41. Truist Financial currently has a hold rating on the stock. Qualys shares last traded at $127.89, with a volume of 226,266 shares trading hands.

QLYS has been the subject of several other research reports. StockNews.com lowered Qualys from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a research note on Wednesday. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a research note on Monday. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Qualys in a research note on Friday, April 26th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $172.00 price target for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Qualys from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $163.73.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 616 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.56, for a total transaction of $83,504.96. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 92,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,550,144.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Qualys news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.78, for a total value of $957,460.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 186,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,523,284.78. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 616 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.56, for a total transaction of $83,504.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 92,580 shares in the company, valued at $12,550,144.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,099 shares of company stock valued at $4,060,450 over the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qualys

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of QLYS. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Qualys by 27.4% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,154 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $227,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its position in shares of Qualys by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 34,766 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $6,824,000 after purchasing an additional 4,792 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Qualys by 201,932.8% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 117,179 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $23,000,000 after purchasing an additional 117,121 shares during the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in shares of Qualys by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 24,405 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $4,790,000 after purchasing an additional 731 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Qualys by 31.2% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,682 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $330,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. 99.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Qualys Trading Down 7.1 %

The firm’s 50-day moving average is $140.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $157.54. The stock has a market cap of $4.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.27 and a beta of 0.49.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The software maker reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.17. Qualys had a net margin of 28.48% and a return on equity of 47.28%. The firm had revenue of $145.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $145.67 million. On average, analysts predict that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

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.