Scotiabank Initiates Coverage on Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Equities research analysts at Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Briefing.com reports. The firm set a “sector perform” rating and a $172.00 price target on the software maker’s stock. Scotiabank’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 1.33% from the company’s previous close.

Several other analysts also recently commented on QLYS. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Qualys from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 21st. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Qualys from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Qualys from $212.00 to $180.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Qualys from $146.00 to $152.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Qualys in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $154.57.

Qualys Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ QLYS opened at $169.74 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $166.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $175.58. Qualys has a fifty-two week low of $107.00 and a fifty-two week high of $206.35. The company has a market capitalization of $6.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.01 and a beta of 0.51.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The software maker reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.26. Qualys had a return on equity of 49.06% and a net margin of 27.34%. The company had revenue of $144.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $144.69 million. On average, analysts forecast that Qualys will post 3.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 4,120 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.62, for a total value of $690,594.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 194,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,598,905.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.49, for a total value of $191,523.70. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 96,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,395,445.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 4,120 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.62, for a total value of $690,594.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 194,481 shares in the company, valued at $32,598,905.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,792 shares of company stock valued at $2,455,489 in the last quarter. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qualys

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Shaker Investments LLC OH increased its stake in shares of Qualys by 222.4% in the first quarter. Shaker Investments LLC OH now owns 17,256 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $2,880,000 after purchasing an additional 11,903 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Qualys by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 24,946 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $4,163,000 after buying an additional 541 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Qualys by 21.7% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 9,948 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,660,000 after buying an additional 1,776 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Qualys by 389.5% in the 1st quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,630 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $272,000 after buying an additional 1,297 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Qualys by 1,094.1% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 20,551 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $3,429,000 after acquiring an additional 18,830 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.