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

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Thursday.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on QLYS. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Qualys in a research report on Friday, April 26th. They issued a sector perform rating and a $172.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Qualys from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Qualys in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. They set a market perform rating and a $170.00 price objective for the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a hold rating on shares of Qualys in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Qualys from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $164.50.

Qualys Stock Performance

QLYS opened at $142.55 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $141.55 and a 200-day moving average of $161.55. The company has a market capitalization of $5.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.00 and a beta of 0.49. Qualys has a 1-year low of $129.60 and a 1-year high of $206.35.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last released its 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. The company had revenue of $145.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $145.67 million. Qualys had a net margin of 28.48% and a return on equity of 47.28%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Qualys will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Qualys

In other Qualys news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 928 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.97, for a total transaction of $155,876.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 93,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,654,132.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.15, for a total value of $1,002,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 186,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,711,933.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 928 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.97, for a total transaction of $155,876.16. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 93,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,654,132.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 28,688 shares of company stock valued at $4,024,381 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qualys

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Qualys by 294.7% during the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 225 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the period. Marshall Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Qualys during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,439,000. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in Qualys by 59.2% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 29,406 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $4,193,000 after buying an additional 10,937 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its stake in Qualys by 9.8% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 809,014 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $115,365,000 after buying an additional 72,261 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Qualys by 243.4% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 807 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $115,000 after buying an additional 572 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.