Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Friday morning.

QLYS has been the topic of several other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Qualys from $162.00 to $135.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on Qualys from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Northland Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $146.00 target price (down previously from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Qualys in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $120.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $144.36.

Qualys Stock Performance

Shares of QLYS stock opened at $118.59 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $133.80 and its 200-day moving average is $136.31. Qualys has a 52 week low of $116.67 and a 52 week high of $174.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.33 billion, a PE ratio of 25.50 and a beta of 0.56.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.16). Qualys had a net margin of 28.59% and a return on equity of 38.52%. As a group, analysts forecast that Qualys will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.17, for a total transaction of $995,190.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 246,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,994,292.48. This trade represents a 2.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,635 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.64, for a total value of $226,676.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 112,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,530,036.88. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 26,595 shares of company stock worth $3,691,922. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qualys

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Qualys in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Qualys in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Qualys by 88.1% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 333 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Qualys during the fourth quarter worth about $54,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in shares of Qualys by 33.9% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 391 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.31% of the company’s stock.

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.