Scotiabank Cuts Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Price Target to $140.00

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) had its target price reduced by equities research analysts at Scotiabank from $150.00 to $140.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “sector perform” rating on the software maker’s stock. Scotiabank’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 2.73% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on QLYS. DA Davidson upped their price target on Qualys from $120.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Qualys from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Needham & Company LLC started coverage on Qualys in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Qualys from $150.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Qualys from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $152.13.

Qualys Price Performance

Qualys stock traded down $4.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $136.28. 349,261 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 384,804. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $143.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $135.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.02 and a beta of 0.56. Qualys has a 52-week low of $119.17 and a 52-week high of $174.73.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.16). Qualys had a net margin of 28.72% and a return on equity of 40.24%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Qualys will post 4.34 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Qualys

In other news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 8,555 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.62, for a total value of $1,322,774.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 64,032 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,900,627.84. This represents a 11.79 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.49, for a total value of $941,430.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 225,453 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,321,173.97. This represents a 3.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 31,259 shares of company stock valued at $4,578,153. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Qualys

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Qualys during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Qualys during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in Qualys by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 391 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Qualys by 80.8% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 432 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP increased its stake in Qualys by 56.2% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 439 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. 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.