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

StockNews.com cut shares of Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

QLYS has been the topic of several other research reports. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Qualys in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. They issued a market perform rating and a $170.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Qualys from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Needham & Company LLC restated a hold rating on shares of Qualys in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Qualys in a research report on Friday, April 26th. They set a sector perform rating and a $172.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Qualys from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Qualys has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $164.50.

Qualys Stock Performance

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

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The software maker reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $145.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $145.67 million. Qualys had a net margin of 28.48% and a return on equity of 47.28%. Analysts forecast that Qualys will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Qualys news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,330 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.14, for a total value of $179,736.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 59,286 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,011,910.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,330 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.14, for a total transaction of $179,736.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 59,286 shares in the company, valued at $8,011,910.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 93,196 shares in the company, valued at $15,654,132.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,688 shares of company stock worth $4,024,381 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qualys

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of QLYS. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Qualys in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in Qualys by 1,666.7% in the first quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 159 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Qualys in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Qualys by 294.7% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 225 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Qualys by 545.2% in the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 200 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.