Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Lowered to "Hold" Rating by Wall Street Zen

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report released on Saturday.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on Qualys from $163.00 to $158.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Qualys from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Scotiabank set a $142.00 price objective on Qualys and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Qualys from $122.00 to $117.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Qualys from $120.00 to $90.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $137.50.

Qualys Stock Performance

QLYS opened at $138.78 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.85 and a beta of 0.61. Qualys has a 52-week low of $112.61 and a 52-week high of $170.00. The business's fifty day moving average is $131.41 and its 200-day moving average is $135.74.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The software maker reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $159.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $157.05 million. Qualys had a return on equity of 38.52% and a net margin of 28.59%. Qualys's revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.45 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Qualys will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Qualys news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 524 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.38, for a total value of $67,795.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 65,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,416,557.14. The trade was a 0.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jeffrey P. Hank sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.93, for a total value of $515,720.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 12,666 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,633,027.38. This represents a 24.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 24,472 shares of company stock worth $3,181,068. 0.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Qualys

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of QLYS. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Qualys by 96.8% during 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. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of Qualys by 92.2% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 643,238 shares of the software maker's stock worth $81,003,000 after purchasing an additional 308,635 shares during the period. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Qualys during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,086,000. Penserra Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Qualys by 53.3% during the first quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 499,084 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $62,849,000 after buying an additional 173,512 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Qualys by 3.1% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. 99.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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