Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Lifted to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Qualys in a report on Friday, April 26th. They issued a sector perform rating and a $172.00 price target for the company. 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 report on Wednesday, May 8th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a hold rating on shares of Qualys in a report on Monday, May 13th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Qualys in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. They set a market perform rating and a $170.00 target price for the company. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Qualys from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Qualys presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $164.50.

Qualys Price Performance

Shares of QLYS stock opened at $142.19 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.91 and a beta of 0.49. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $142.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $163.80. Qualys has a one year low of $128.98 and a one year high of $206.35.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The software maker reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.17. Qualys had a net margin of 28.48% and a return on equity of 47.28%. The business had revenue of $145.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $145.67 million. On average, research analysts expect that Qualys will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Qualys

In related news, Director Wendy Pfeiffer sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.72, for a total transaction of $291,440.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 8,490 shares in the company, valued at $1,237,162.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Wendy Pfeiffer sold 2,000 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.72, for a total value of $291,440.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 8,490 shares in the company, valued at $1,237,162.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,330 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.14, for a total transaction of $179,736.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 59,286 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,011,910.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 27,165 shares of company stock worth $3,925,202. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Qualys

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Qualys in the fourth quarter valued at about $18,844,000. Dorsey Wright & Associates acquired a new position in Qualys during the fourth quarter worth about $4,455,000. Intrust Bank NA boosted its position in Qualys by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 4,984 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $978,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC acquired a new position in Qualys during the fourth quarter worth about $3,731,000. Finally, Roberts Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Qualys during the first quarter worth about $863,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.31% of the company’s stock.

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.