Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $140.00 to $160.00. The stock had previously closed at $128.23, but opened at $153.75. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Qualys shares last traded at $148.63, with a volume of 397,348 shares traded.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on QLYS. StockNews.com cut shares of Qualys from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of Qualys from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC started coverage on Qualys in a report on Wednesday. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Qualys from $120.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Qualys from $116.00 to $115.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Three research 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, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $152.80.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 634 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.19, for a total value of $77,468.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 85,942 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,501,252.98. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Qualys news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,339 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.56, for a total value of $165,446.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 55,279 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,830,273.24. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 634 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.19, for a total value of $77,468.46. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 85,942 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,501,252.98. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 10,919 shares of company stock valued at $1,360,140. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qualys

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Qualys by 294.7% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 225 shares of the software maker's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Qualys by 149.0% in the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 239 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Qualys during the second quarter valued at approximately $40,000. DT Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in Qualys during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in Qualys by 53.6% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 639 shares of the software maker's stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.31% of the company's stock.

Qualys Trading Up 24.2 %

The company has a market cap of $5.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.12 and a beta of 0.47. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $124.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $136.16.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The software maker reported $1.52 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $148.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $148.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.95 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.