Jefferies Financial Group Cuts Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Price Target to $130.00

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) had its price objective reduced by Jefferies Financial Group from $145.00 to $130.00 in a report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a hold rating on the software maker's stock.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on QLYS. Loop Capital decreased their target price on shares of Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Qualys in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an "underweight" rating and a $120.00 price objective for the company. Northland Securities restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $146.00 target price (down previously from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a report on Monday, February 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on Qualys from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Qualys in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $144.36.

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Qualys Trading Down 3.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:QLYS traded down $4.68 on Monday, reaching $118.59. 542,215 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 395,891. Qualys has a twelve month low of $115.67 and a twelve month high of $174.20. The company has a fifty day moving average of $134.29 and a 200-day moving average of $136.36. The company has a market capitalization of $4.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.50 and a beta of 0.56.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) 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 38.52%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Qualys will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Qualys

In related news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.17, for a total value of $995,190.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 246,144 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $34,994,292.48. This trade represents a 2.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 882 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.66, for a total value of $123,180.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 62,295 shares in the company, valued at $8,700,119.70. This represents a 1.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 26,595 shares of company stock valued at $3,691,922. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Qualys

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of QLYS. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Qualys during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Qualys in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Qualys by 88.1% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 333 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Qualys during the 4th quarter worth about $54,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in Qualys by 33.9% in 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 during the period. 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.