Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Given New $126.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) had its target price boosted by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $123.00 to $126.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "underweight" rating on the software maker's stock. Morgan Stanley's target price would suggest a potential downside of 20.87% from the stock's current price.

QLYS has been the topic of a number of other reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Qualys in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. They set a "hold" rating and a $135.00 price target on the stock. DA Davidson raised shares of Qualys from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com cut Qualys from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Qualys from $180.00 to $150.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price on Qualys from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Qualys currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $152.80.

Qualys Stock Up 24.2 %

Qualys stock traded up $31.00 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $159.23. The stock had a trading volume of 2,996,960 shares, compared to its average volume of 441,907. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.86 billion, a PE ratio of 35.07 and a beta of 0.47. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $124.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $136.32. Qualys has a 12 month low of $119.17 and a 12 month high of $206.35.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The software maker reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.20. Qualys had a net margin of 29.36% and a return on equity of 44.80%. The company had revenue of $148.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $148.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.95 earnings per share. Qualys's revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Qualys will post 3.94 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Qualys

In other Qualys news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 616 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.54, for a total value of $76,100.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 86,576 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,695,599.04. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 616 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.54, for a total transaction of $76,100.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 86,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,695,599.04. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,339 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.56, for a total value of $165,446.84. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 55,279 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,830,273.24. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,919 shares of company stock worth $1,360,140 over the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Qualys

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its holdings in Qualys by 36.6% in the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 20,576 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $3,374,000 after acquiring an additional 5,508 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Qualys by 2,459.9% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 43,135 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $6,151,000 after purchasing an additional 41,450 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Qualys during the 1st quarter worth $1,139,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its stake in shares of Qualys by 13.5% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 108,304 shares of the software maker's stock worth $18,048,000 after purchasing an additional 12,915 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Qualys by 57.7% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 13,672 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $1,950,000 after buying an additional 5,004 shares during the last quarter. 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.