StockNews.com Upgrades Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) to Buy

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

QLYS has been the subject of a number of other reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Qualys from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Qualys from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Qualys from $120.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Qualys from $150.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $152.80.

Qualys Price Performance

Shares of QLYS stock opened at $140.71 on Thursday. Qualys has a one year low of $119.17 and a one year high of $182.45. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $143.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $135.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.15 billion, a PE ratio of 30.99 and a beta of 0.56.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.16). Qualys had a net margin of 28.72% and a return on equity of 40.24%. As a group, research analysts expect that Qualys will post 4.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Qualys

In other news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,332 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.37, for a total value of $209,616.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 113,652 shares in the company, valued at $17,885,415.24. This represents a 1.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.66, for a total transaction of $1,047,620.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 225,453 shares in the company, valued at $33,741,295.98. The trade was a 3.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 31,259 shares of company stock valued at $4,578,153. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qualys

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Qualys in the 4th quarter worth approximately $15,937,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Qualys during the fourth quarter worth $4,699,000. Atria Investments Inc boosted its position in Qualys by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 4,214 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $591,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Qualys by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 456,540 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $64,016,000 after purchasing an additional 3,848 shares during the period. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Qualys during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.