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

Key Points

• Qualys has been downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold," reflecting changing analyst sentiment.
• Despite the downgrade, some analysts have raised target prices for Qualys, with Wedbush increasing its target from $145.00 to $155.00 and maintaining an "outperform" rating.
• Qualys reported earnings per share of $1.68 in its last quarterly earnings, exceeding analysts' expectations and showing a year-over-year revenue increase of 10.3%.

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

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on QLYS. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Qualys from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Qualys from $142.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price 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. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Qualys from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of Qualys from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $141.00.

Qualys Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ QLYS traded up $2.48 during trading on Friday, hitting $131.93. 69,299 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 338,048. Qualys has a fifty-two week low of $112.61 and a fifty-two week high of $170.00. The business's fifty day moving average is $138.89 and its 200 day moving average is $134.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.32 and a beta of 0.56.

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

Insider Activity at Qualys

In other Qualys news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 541 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.11, for a total transaction of $75,799.51. Following the sale, the insider owned 60,643 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,496,690.73. This trade represents a 0.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,018 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.26, for a total transaction of $134,640.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 94,468 shares in the company, valued at $12,494,337.68. The trade was a 1.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 42,598 shares of company stock valued at $6,019,818 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qualys

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Qualys during the 2nd quarter worth $44,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Qualys by 82.7% during the 1st quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 369 shares of the software maker's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Qualys by 88.1% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 333 shares of the software maker's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Qualys during the 4th quarter worth $54,000. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Qualys by 52.4% during the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 436 shares of the software maker's stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.