Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued on Sunday.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price target on shares of Qualys from $163.00 to $158.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Qualys from $120.00 to $90.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Wedbush reduced their price target on Qualys from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Qualys from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $137.50.

Qualys Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:QLYS opened at $135.73 on Friday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $132.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $134.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.76 and a beta of 0.61. Qualys has a 1 year low of $112.61 and a 1 year high of $170.00.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The software maker reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.21. The business 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 firm's quarterly 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. As a group, analysts anticipate that Qualys will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Qualys

In related news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The shares were 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 $30,496,012.53. The trade was a 2.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 845 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.96, for a total transaction of $118,266.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 100,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,006,497. The trade was a 0.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 33,105 shares of company stock worth $4,390,137 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Qualys

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Amalgamated Bank raised its holdings in shares of Qualys by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 16,640 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $2,333,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Qualys by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,749 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $806,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Cim LLC raised its holdings in shares of Qualys by 1.2% during the first quarter. Cim LLC now owns 8,561 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $1,078,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Qualys by 1.2% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 8,776 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $1,105,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Securian Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Qualys by 3.7% during the first 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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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