Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Jefferies Financial Group Analyst Says

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) had its price objective lifted by analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $135.00 to $155.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “hold” rating on the software maker’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target would indicate a potential downside of 0.05% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. TD Cowen raised their price target on Qualys from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC began coverage on shares of Qualys in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Wedbush dropped their price target on shares of Qualys from $190.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Qualys from $150.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their target price 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 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Qualys presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $152.80.

Qualys Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of Qualys stock opened at $155.08 on Wednesday. Qualys has a 1-year low of $119.17 and a 1-year high of $206.35. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $125.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $136.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.16 and a beta of 0.47.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The software maker reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.23. Qualys had a return on equity of 44.80% and a net margin of 29.36%. The firm had revenue of $153.87 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $150.74 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Qualys will post 3.94 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Qualys news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,330 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 55,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,885,508.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Qualys news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,330 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.80, for a total transaction of $164,654.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 55,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,885,508.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 616 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.54, for a total value of $76,100.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 86,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,695,599.04. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,919 shares of company stock worth $1,360,140 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Qualys

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in Qualys by 10.5% in the first quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 3,983 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $665,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of Qualys by 0.5% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 61,121 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $10,199,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in Qualys by 93.2% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 7,150 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,193,000 after acquiring an additional 3,450 shares in the last quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Qualys during the first quarter valued at approximately $240,000. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in Qualys during the first quarter valued at approximately $119,000. 99.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.