Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Given New $130.00 Price Target at Jefferies Financial Group

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) had its price objective dropped by equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group from $145.00 to $130.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “hold” rating on the software maker’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 3.63% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Qualys in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $120.00 target price for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price target on shares of Qualys from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Northland Securities restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $146.00 price objective (down previously from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Qualys from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Qualys currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $144.36.

Qualys Trading Down 1.4 %

NASDAQ:QLYS traded down $1.73 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $125.45. The company had a trading volume of 93,977 shares, compared to its average volume of 394,793. Qualys has a 12-month low of $119.17 and a 12-month high of $174.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.01 and a beta of 0.56. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $135.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $136.48.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 28.59% and a return on equity of 38.52%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Qualys will post 3.85 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Qualys

In other news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,635 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 112,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,530,036.88. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 524 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.38, for a total transaction of $67,795.12. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 65,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,416,557.14. This trade represents a 0.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 26,595 shares of company stock worth $3,691,922. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qualys

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in QLYS. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Qualys during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Qualys during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in Qualys by 88.1% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 333 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Qualys in the fourth quarter worth $54,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of Qualys by 33.9% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 391 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.