Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Canaccord Genuity Group Analyst Says

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) had its price objective hoisted by research analysts at Canaccord Genuity Group from $160.00 to $170.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the software maker’s stock. Canaccord Genuity Group’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 12.82% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Northland Securities reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $140.00 target price (down from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Qualys in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $135.00 price objective for the company. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Qualys from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Qualys from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Qualys from $167.00 to $150.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $150.36.

Qualys Stock Up 17.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:QLYS traded up $22.45 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $150.68. 933,192 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 432,308. The business’s fifty day moving average is $124.24 and its 200-day moving average is $136.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.17 and a beta of 0.47. Qualys has a one year low of $119.17 and a one year high of $206.35.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The software maker reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.20. Qualys had a return on equity of 44.80% and a net margin of 29.36%. The firm had revenue of $148.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $148.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Qualys will post 3.94 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,330 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.80, for a total transaction of $164,654.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 55,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,885,508.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,330 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.80, for a total value of $164,654.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 55,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,885,508.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total transaction of $876,470.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 179,649 shares in the company, valued at $22,493,851.29. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 10,919 shares of company stock worth $1,360,140. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Qualys

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Financial Enhancement Group LLC grew its holdings in Qualys by 1.5% in the third quarter. Financial Enhancement Group LLC now owns 6,100 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $784,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in shares of Qualys by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 4,896 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $699,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Legacy Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Qualys by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 8,272 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,180,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Qualys by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,684 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $281,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of Qualys by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 46,436 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $6,622,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the period. 99.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.