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

Shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Reduce" by the seventeen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have assigned a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $137.50.

QLYS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on shares of Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Qualys from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 12th. Northland Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $146.00 price target (down previously from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Qualys in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Qualys from $122.00 to $117.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 524 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.38, for a total transaction of $67,795.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 65,053 shares in the company, valued at $8,416,557.14. The trade was a 0.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.81, for a total value 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 trade represents a 2.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,127 shares of company stock valued at $1,904,252 over the last ninety days. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Qualys

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Amalgamated Bank increased its position in Qualys by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 16,640 shares of the software maker's stock worth $2,333,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Qualys by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,749 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $806,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in Qualys by 33.9% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 391 shares of the software maker's stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its stake 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Securian Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Qualys by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,809 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $354,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Qualys Stock Performance

Qualys stock traded up $3.03 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $137.54. The stock had a trading volume of 318,313 shares, compared to its average volume of 346,311. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.58 and a beta of 0.61. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $127.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $136.58. 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 quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The software maker reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $159.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $157.05 million. Qualys had a net margin of 28.59% and a return on equity of 38.52%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.45 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Qualys will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.