Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) Receives $137.50 Average PT from Analysts

Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of "Reduce" from the seventeen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have issued a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $137.50.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on QLYS shares. Loop Capital reduced their price target on Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Qualys from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, April 12th. Wedbush dropped their price target on shares of Qualys from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Scotiabank set a $142.00 price objective on shares of Qualys and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Qualys from $131.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th.

Qualys Stock Performance

Shares of Qualys stock traded down $0.62 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $136.93. 77,323 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 381,730. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $127.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $136.59. The stock has a market cap of $4.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.44 and a beta of 0.61. Qualys has a 12 month low of $112.61 and a 12 month 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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $159.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $157.05 million. Qualys had a net margin of 28.59% and a return on equity of 38.52%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.45 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Qualys will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.81, for a total transaction of $866,670.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 246,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,496,012.53. This represents a 2.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 525 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.85, for a total transaction of $72,371.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 61,709 shares in the company, valued at $8,506,585.65. This trade represents a 0.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 15,127 shares of company stock worth $1,904,252. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Qualys by 35.6% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 23,988 shares of the software maker's stock worth $3,021,000 after purchasing an additional 6,292 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in Qualys by 92.2% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 643,238 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $81,003,000 after purchasing an additional 308,635 shares in the last quarter. Optimize Financial Inc raised its holdings in Qualys by 1.6% during the first quarter. Optimize Financial Inc now owns 14,148 shares of the software maker's stock worth $1,782,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC lifted its stake in shares of Qualys by 3,466.2% in the first quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 5,278 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $678,000 after buying an additional 5,130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Services Automobile Association bought a new position in shares of Qualys in the first quarter valued at $306,000. 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.