Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday.

QLYS has been the topic of a number of other reports. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on shares of Qualys from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Loop Capital decreased their price target on Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Qualys from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Qualys in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an "underweight" rating and a $120.00 target price for the company. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $142.21.

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Qualys Stock Performance

Shares of QLYS traded down $3.90 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $120.07. 99,040 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 398,601. The stock's 50-day moving average is $129.85 and its 200-day moving average is $136.08. Qualys has a fifty-two week low of $112.61 and a fifty-two week high of $174.20. The company has a market cap of $4.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.82 and a beta of 0.71.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.16). Qualys had a return on equity of 38.52% and a net margin of 28.59%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Qualys will post 3.85 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Qualys

In related news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 4,487 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $628,180.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 112,757 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,785,980. This trade represents a 3.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.81, for a total transaction of $866,670.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 246,313 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,496,012.53. The trade was a 2.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 26,480 shares of company stock valued at $3,579,506. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Qualys in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Qualys in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in Qualys by 88.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Qualys in the fourth quarter worth about $54,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of Qualys by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 391 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. 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.