Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Given New $97.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley raised its target price for Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) from $90.00 to $97.00, indicating a potential downside of 25.29% from the current price, along with an "underweight" rating.
• Other analysts have mixed views on Qualys, with Royal Bank of Canada increasing their target to $140.00 and Wedbush lowering theirs to $145.00, reflecting a consensus rating of "Hold."
• Qualys recently reported strong earnings, posting $1.68 earnings per share, exceeding estimates, and experiencing a 10.3% year-over-year revenue increase to $164.06 million.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) had its price target hoisted by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $90.00 to $97.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "underweight" rating on the software maker's stock. Morgan Stanley's price target points to a potential downside of 24.30% from the stock's current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on QLYS. Scotiabank increased their price target on Qualys from $142.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Qualys from $131.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wedbush lowered their target price on Qualys from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Qualys from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, June 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $141.00.

Qualys Trading Down 0.4%

NASDAQ:QLYS traded down $0.49 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $128.14. The company had a trading volume of 84,882 shares, compared to its average volume of 338,553. The company has a market cap of $4.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.61 and a beta of 0.56. Qualys has a 1 year low of $112.61 and a 1 year high of $170.00. The company has a 50-day moving average of $139.60 and a 200 day moving average of $134.44.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The software maker reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $164.06 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $161.25 million. Qualys had a return on equity of 37.19% and a net margin of 29.04%. The company's revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.52 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Qualys will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Qualys news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 12,000 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total value of $1,791,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 217,962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,530,828.50. This trade represents a 5.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jeffrey P. Hank sold 657 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.07, for a total value of $91,368.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 13,888 shares in the company, valued at $1,931,404.16. This trade represents a 4.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 42,598 shares of company stock valued at $6,019,818. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Qualys

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Arkadios Wealth Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Qualys by 2.4% in the second quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 4,006 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $572,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Qualys by 4.3% during the second quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC now owns 2,283 shares of the software maker's stock worth $326,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Cim LLC boosted its position in Qualys by 1.2% during the first quarter. Cim LLC now owns 8,561 shares of the software maker's stock worth $1,078,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its position in Qualys by 1.2% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Securian Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Qualys by 3.7% during the first quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,809 shares of the software maker's stock worth $354,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.