Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Share Price Crosses Below 50-Day Moving Average - Here's Why

Key Points

• Qualys shares slipped below their 50-day moving average, trading as low as $187.86 versus the $190.76 average and last changing hands at $190.41.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but leans to “Hold”: the consensus price target is $185.87, with one Strong Buy, four Buys, ten Holds and one Sell rating.
• In its latest reported quarter, Qualys beat earnings and revenue estimates, posting EPS of $1.98 versus $1.78 expected and revenue up 11.1% year over year to $182.18 million.

Shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) crossed below its 50-day moving average during trading on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $190.76 and traded as low as $187.86. Qualys shares last traded at $190.41, with a volume of 1,110,081 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on QLYS shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Qualys from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, November 2nd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Qualys from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Qualys from $135.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wedbush lowered Qualys from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $175.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $160.00 target price on shares of Qualys in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $185.87.

Qualys Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $190.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $136.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.59 billion, a PE ratio of 32.94 and a beta of 0.54.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The software maker reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.20. Qualys had a return on equity of 37.52% and a net margin of 29.38%. The firm had revenue of $182.18 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.57 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.68 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Qualys, Inc. will post 5.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 2,659 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.66, for a total transaction of $557,485.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 68,208 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,300,489.28. The trade was a 3.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Bruce Posey sold 881 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.52, for a total value of $166,967.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 57,807 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,955,582.64. The trade was a 1.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,672 shares of company stock worth $2,192,747. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Qualys

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kilter Group LLC bought a new stake in Qualys in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Continuum Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Qualys in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in Qualys by 206.2% in the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 297 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of Qualys during the second quarter valued at $51,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP bought a new stake in Qualys in the second quarter worth approximately $64,000. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Qualys

Qualys, Inc is a cloud-based cybersecurity company that helps organizations identify, assess and manage security risks across information technology environments. Its platform is designed to provide visibility into assets, vulnerabilities, configurations and compliance requirements across on-premises infrastructure, endpoints, networks, applications and cloud environments.

The company's offerings include vulnerability management, detection and response, policy compliance, asset inventory, web application security, endpoint security and cloud security capabilities.

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