StockNews.com Downgrades Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) to Hold

StockNews.com cut shares of Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Sunday morning.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on QLYS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Qualys from $146.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Qualys in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. They issued a market perform rating and a $170.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Qualys from $212.00 to $180.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Stephens reiterated an equal weight rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Qualys in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Wedbush decreased their target price on shares of Qualys from $230.00 to $210.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $153.23.

Qualys Price Performance

NASDAQ QLYS opened at $163.55 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.48 and a beta of 0.51. The company’s fifty day moving average is $166.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $175.29. Qualys has a 52-week low of $107.00 and a 52-week high of $206.35.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The software maker reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $144.57 million for 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Qualys will post 3.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Qualys

In related news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,130 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.49, for a total transaction of $191,523.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 96,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,395,445.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,130 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.49, for a total transaction of $191,523.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 96,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,395,445.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 4,120 shares of Qualys 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 194,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,598,905.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,349 shares of company stock valued at $2,214,032 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Qualys

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in QLYS. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in Qualys during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Qualys in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Qualys by 58.2% in the first quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 242 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of Qualys by 545.2% in the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 200 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Qualys by 218.2% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 210 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. 99.31% of the stock is owned by 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.