Brokerages Set Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) Price Target at $153.23

Shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the twelve analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $153.23.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on QLYS. Wedbush reduced their target price on shares of Qualys from $230.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Qualys in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $170.00 target price for the company. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Qualys in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Qualys from $212.00 to $180.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Qualys from $146.00 to $152.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th.

Qualys Price Performance

Shares of QLYS opened at $172.11 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.36 billion, a PE ratio of 42.60 and a beta of 0.51. Qualys has a one year low of $107.00 and a one year high of $206.35. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $166.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $175.60.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The software maker reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.26. Qualys had a net margin of 27.34% and a return on equity of 49.06%. The company had revenue of $144.57 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $144.69 million. Analysts anticipate that Qualys will post 3.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Qualys

In other news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.49, for a total value of $191,523.70. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 96,734 shares in the company, valued at $16,395,445.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.49, for a total transaction of $191,523.70. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 96,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,395,445.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,430 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.91, for a total transaction of $235,821.30. Following the sale, the insider now owns 63,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,398,729.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,792 shares of company stock valued at $2,455,489 over the last three months. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qualys

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Qualys during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Qualys by 1,666.7% during the 1st quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 159 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Qualys during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Qualys by 545.2% during the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 200 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Qualys by 218.2% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 210 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.