Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) Receives Consensus Rating of "Reduce" from Brokerages

Shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Reduce" by the seventeen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have given a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $137.50.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on QLYS shares. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Qualys from $131.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price objective on shares of Qualys from $163.00 to $158.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Qualys from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 14th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Qualys from $120.00 to $90.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Qualys from $122.00 to $117.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th.

Qualys Stock Down 2.1%

NASDAQ QLYS opened at $137.20 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.98 billion, a PE ratio of 28.06 and a beta of 0.61. The stock's 50 day moving average is $132.41 and its 200 day moving average is $135.42. Qualys has a twelve month low of $112.61 and a twelve month high of $170.00.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The software maker reported $1.67 EPS 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 analysts' expectations of $157.05 million. Qualys had a net margin of 29.19% and a return on equity of 38.05%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.45 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Qualys will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Qualys

In other Qualys news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 8,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.30, for a total transaction of $1,158,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 237,962 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $32,434,220.60. This represents a 3.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 845 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.96, for a total transaction of $118,266.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 100,075 shares in the company, valued at $14,006,497. This represents a 0.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 33,105 shares of company stock worth $4,390,137. 0.88% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Qualys

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Qualys by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,312,662 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $604,721,000 after buying an additional 131,339 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Qualys by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,262,931 shares of the software maker's stock worth $178,445,000 after acquiring an additional 16,369 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Qualys by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 954,583 shares of the software maker's stock worth $133,852,000 after acquiring an additional 88,347 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Qualys by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 920,163 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $129,025,000 after purchasing an additional 38,880 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Qualys by 96.8% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 688,776 shares of the software maker's stock worth $85,394,000 after purchasing an additional 338,702 shares during the period. 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.

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