Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” by Analysts

Shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) have received a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the eighteen analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $152.80.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on QLYS. Wolfe Research raised shares of Qualys from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Qualys from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on Qualys from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Qualys from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th.

Qualys Stock Performance

NASDAQ QLYS opened at $139.63 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $143.76 and its 200 day moving average is $135.87. Qualys has a fifty-two week low of $119.17 and a fifty-two week high of $201.03. The company has a market capitalization of $5.11 billion, a PE ratio of 30.76 and a beta of 0.54.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The software maker reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.23. Qualys had a return on equity of 40.24% and a net margin of 28.72%. The firm had revenue of $153.87 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $150.74 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.24 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Qualys will post 4.34 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Qualys news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,339 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.56, for a total transaction of $165,446.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 55,279 shares in the company, valued at $6,830,273.24. The trade was a 2.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,332 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.37, for a total value of $209,616.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 113,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,885,415.24. The trade was a 1.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 30,715 shares of company stock worth $4,406,251 over the last three months. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Qualys by 149.0% in the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 239 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Qualys during the 2nd quarter worth $40,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in Qualys by 53.6% during the 3rd 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. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Qualys by 68.6% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 730 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $94,000 after buying an additional 297 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Qualys by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,091 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $140,000 after buying an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.31% of the company’s stock.

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.