Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Earns “Hold” Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS)‘s stock had its “hold” rating restated by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on QLYS. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Qualys from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Qualys from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Northland Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $146.00 target price (down from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a research note on Monday. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Qualys from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $146.57.

Qualys Price Performance

Shares of QLYS opened at $135.57 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $143.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $135.53. The stock has a market cap of $4.96 billion, a PE ratio of 29.15 and a beta of 0.56. Qualys has a 1-year low of $119.17 and a 1-year high of $174.73.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.16). Qualys had a net margin of 28.59% and a return on equity of 39.64%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Qualys will post 4.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Qualys

In other Qualys news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 855 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.24, for a total value of $121,615.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 63,177 shares in the company, valued at $8,986,296.48. This represents a 1.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,332 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.37, for a total value of $209,616.84. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 113,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,885,415.24. The trade was a 1.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 31,259 shares of company stock worth $4,578,153. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Qualys

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new position in Qualys in the third quarter valued at $445,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Qualys by 208.5% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 86,187 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $11,072,000 after buying an additional 58,252 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in Qualys by 428.9% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 18,256 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $2,345,000 after acquiring an additional 14,804 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Qualys by 40.0% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 29,015 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $3,525,000 after acquiring an additional 8,291 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in Qualys by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 63,320 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $8,134,000 after acquiring an additional 4,040 shares during 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.