Morgan Stanley Initiates Coverage on Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Investment analysts at Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) in a research report issued on Tuesday. The brokerage set an “underweight” rating and a $120.00 price target on the software maker’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price would suggest a potential downside of 7.58% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. StockNews.com raised Qualys from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on shares of Qualys from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Qualys from $162.00 to $135.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Northland Securities restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $146.00 price target (down previously from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $146.14.

Qualys Trading Down 0.5 %

QLYS traded down $0.65 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $129.85. The stock had a trading volume of 6,564 shares, compared to its average volume of 386,555. The company has a market capitalization of $4.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.71 and a beta of 0.56. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $136.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $136.07. Qualys has a one year low of $119.17 and a one year high of $174.20.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.16). Qualys had a return on equity of 38.52% and a net margin of 28.59%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Qualys will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Qualys

In other Qualys news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 525 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.48, for a total transaction of $73,227.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 65,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,118,226.04. This represents a 0.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,635 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.64, for a total value of $226,676.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 112,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,530,036.88. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 26,926 shares of company stock worth $3,745,742. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qualys

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Qualys by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,312,662 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $604,721,000 after buying an additional 131,339 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Qualys by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,262,931 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $178,445,000 after purchasing an additional 16,369 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its position in Qualys by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,049,623 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $147,178,000 after purchasing an additional 123,530 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of Qualys by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 954,583 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $133,852,000 after purchasing an additional 88,347 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Qualys by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 920,163 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $129,025,000 after purchasing an additional 38,880 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.31% of the company’s stock.

About Qualys

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.