Canaccord Genuity Group Cuts Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Price Target to $158.00

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) had its target price lowered by Canaccord Genuity Group from $163.00 to $158.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the software maker's stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Northland Securities restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $146.00 target price (down previously from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a research note on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Qualys from $122.00 to $117.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Qualys from $120.00 to $90.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Qualys from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Qualys presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $137.50.

Qualys Trading Up 2.7%

Shares of QLYS traded up $3.52 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $135.83. 195,639 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 386,971. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.24 and a beta of 0.61. The firm's fifty day moving average is $125.61 and its 200-day moving average is $136.24. Qualys has a 1 year low of $112.61 and a 1 year high of $170.00.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The software maker reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $159.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $157.05 million. Qualys had a return on equity of 38.52% and a net margin of 28.59%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.45 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Qualys will post 3.85 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.17, for a total transaction of $995,190.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 246,144 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $34,994,292.48. The trade was a 2.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 525 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.48, for a total transaction of $73,227.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 65,373 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,118,226.04. The trade was a 0.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 26,669 shares of company stock valued at $3,536,541 in the last ninety days. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Qualys

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Amalgamated Bank grew its position in Qualys by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 16,640 shares of the software maker's stock worth $2,333,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in Qualys by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,749 shares of the software maker's stock worth $806,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in Qualys by 33.9% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 391 shares of the software maker's stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its position in Qualys by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 8,776 shares of the software maker's stock worth $1,105,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its position in Qualys by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 10,300 shares of the software maker's stock worth $1,297,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.