Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Given New $150.00 Price Target at Jefferies Financial Group

Key Points

• Qualys received a price target increase from $140.00 to $150.00 by UBS Group, suggesting a potential upside of 15.95% from the stock's previous close.
• Despite the positive outlook from UBS, other analysts have varied opinions, with Wedbush lowering their target from $160.00 to $145.00 and JPMorgan offering a target of $117.00.
• Qualys reported earnings of $1.68 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing estimates and reflecting a 10.3% year-over-year revenue growth.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) had its price objective lifted by Jefferies Financial Group from $140.00 to $150.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a hold rating on the software maker's stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on QLYS. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Qualys from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on shares of Qualys from $163.00 to $158.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Qualys from $90.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Qualys from $142.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Qualys from $122.00 to $117.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $141.00.

Qualys Stock Performance

Shares of QLYS stock traded down $0.49 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $128.14. 84,882 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 338,553. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.61 and a beta of 0.56. Qualys has a 12-month low of $112.61 and a 12-month high of $170.00. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $139.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $134.44.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The software maker reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.21. Qualys had a return on equity of 37.19% and a net margin of 29.04%. The firm had revenue of $164.06 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $161.25 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.52 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Qualys will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Qualys

In related news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,018 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.26, for a total value of $134,640.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 94,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,494,337.68. This represents a 1.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jeffrey P. Hank sold 657 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.07, for a total value of $91,368.99. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 13,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,931,404.16. The trade was a 4.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 42,598 shares of company stock valued at $6,019,818 over the last 90 days. 0.88% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Qualys

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of QLYS. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Qualys by 8.4% during the second quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,137,864 shares of the software maker's stock worth $162,567,000 after purchasing an additional 88,051 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Qualys by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 954,583 shares of the software maker's stock worth $133,852,000 after buying an additional 88,347 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Qualys by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 920,163 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $129,025,000 after buying an additional 38,880 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Qualys by 96.8% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 688,776 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $85,394,000 after acquiring an additional 338,702 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in shares of Qualys by 92.2% in 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 acquiring an additional 308,635 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.