Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Lifted to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Friday.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a hold rating on shares of Qualys in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Qualys from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Qualys from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Scotiabank initiated coverage on Qualys in a research note on Friday, April 26th. They set a sector perform rating and a $172.00 price target on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $164.50.

Qualys Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of Qualys stock opened at $147.47 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $141.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $160.33. Qualys has a 52 week low of $131.07 and a 52 week high of $206.35. The company has a market capitalization of $5.45 billion, a PE ratio of 34.14 and a beta of 0.49.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The software maker reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $145.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $145.67 million. Qualys had a net margin of 28.48% and a return on equity of 47.28%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Qualys will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Qualys

In other Qualys news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 928 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.97, for a total transaction of $155,876.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 93,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,654,132.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,330 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.24, for a total value of $193,169.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 59,616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,658,627.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 928 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.97, for a total value of $155,876.16. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 93,196 shares in the company, valued at $15,654,132.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 30,027 shares of company stock worth $4,216,326 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qualys

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of QLYS. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Qualys by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 439,434 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $62,663,000 after purchasing an additional 3,357 shares during the last quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC grew its position in Qualys by 22.6% during the 2nd quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 3,517 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $502,000 after purchasing an additional 649 shares during the last quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Qualys by 53.6% during the 2nd quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 3,121 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $445,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089 shares in the last quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Qualys in the second quarter worth $41,000. Finally, West Coast Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Qualys during the second quarter worth $3,287,000. 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.