Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Stock Price

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) had its price objective hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $123.00 to $126.00 in a research note released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an underweight rating on the software maker’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also commented on QLYS. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Qualys from $170.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Qualys from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Qualys from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Qualys in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $135.00 price target for the company. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Qualys from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $152.80.

Qualys Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ QLYS opened at $159.23 on Wednesday. Qualys has a fifty-two week low of $119.17 and a fifty-two week high of $206.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.07 and a beta of 0.47. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $124.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $136.32.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Qualys

In related news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 634 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.19, for a total value of $77,468.46. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 85,942 shares in the company, valued at $10,501,252.98. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total transaction of $876,470.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 179,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,493,851.29. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 634 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.19, for a total value of $77,468.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 85,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,501,252.98. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 10,919 shares of company stock valued at $1,360,140. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qualys

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Qualys by 294.7% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 225 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Qualys by 149.0% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 239 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Qualys during the second quarter worth about $40,000. DT Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Qualys in the second quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of Qualys by 53.6% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 639 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.