Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Royal Bank of Canada Analyst Says

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) had its target price increased by stock analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $150.00 to $162.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “sector perform” rating on the software maker’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price indicates a potential upside of 7.90% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on QLYS. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Qualys from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Qualys from $167.00 to $150.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Wedbush dropped their price target on shares of Qualys from $190.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Needham & Company LLC started coverage on shares of Qualys in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Qualys from $170.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Qualys has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $148.85.

Qualys Trading Up 17.1 %

Qualys stock traded up $21.91 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $150.14. The company had a trading volume of 884,903 shares, compared to its average volume of 431,807. Qualys has a 1-year low of $119.17 and a 1-year high of $206.35. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $124.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $136.16. The stock has a market cap of $5.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.13 and a beta of 0.47.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The software maker reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $148.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $148.80 million. Qualys had a net margin of 29.36% and a return on equity of 44.80%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Qualys will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Qualys

In related news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,330 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.80, for a total value of $164,654.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 55,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,885,508.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,330 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.80, for a total value of $164,654.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 55,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,885,508.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,339 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.56, for a total transaction of $165,446.84. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 55,279 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,830,273.24. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,919 shares of company stock valued at $1,360,140 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qualys

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Financial Enhancement Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Qualys by 1.5% in the third quarter. Financial Enhancement Group LLC now owns 6,100 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $784,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in shares of Qualys by 2.2% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 4,896 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $699,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. Legacy Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Qualys by 1.4% during the second quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 8,272 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,180,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Qualys by 8.1% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,684 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $281,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of Qualys by 0.3% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 46,436 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $6,622,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. 99.31% of the stock is 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.