Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Stock Rating Upgraded by DA Davidson

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) was upgraded by research analysts at DA Davidson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Qualys from $170.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Qualys from $167.00 to $150.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Qualys from $116.00 to $115.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Qualys from $165.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on Qualys from $170.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $149.92.

Qualys Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of Qualys stock traded down $1.20 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $125.93. The stock had a trading volume of 431,561 shares, compared to its average volume of 456,729. Qualys has a 1 year low of $121.64 and a 1 year high of $206.35. The company has a market capitalization of $4.65 billion, a PE ratio of 29.15 and a beta of 0.49. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $139.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $156.61.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The software maker reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.20. Qualys had a net margin of 28.48% and a return on equity of 47.28%. The firm had revenue of $148.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $148.80 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.95 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Qualys will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Qualys

In related news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 616 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.93, for a total transaction of $82,500.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 87,077 shares in the company, valued at $11,662,222.61. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,330 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.24, for a total transaction of $193,169.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 59,616 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,658,627.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 616 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.93, for a total value of $82,500.88. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 87,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,662,222.61. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,715 shares of company stock worth $4,142,951 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qualys

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in Qualys by 27.4% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,154 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $227,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in Qualys by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 24,405 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $4,790,000 after acquiring an additional 731 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Qualys by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,682 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $330,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Qualys by 201,932.8% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 117,179 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $23,000,000 after acquiring an additional 117,121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Qualys during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $215,000. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.