Canaccord Genuity Group Has Lowered Expectations for Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Stock Price

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) had its target price cut by equities researchers at Canaccord Genuity Group from $170.00 to $163.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the software maker’s stock. Canaccord Genuity Group’s price objective points to a potential upside of 19.85% from the company’s previous close.

QLYS has been the topic of several other research reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on Qualys from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Qualys from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Qualys from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Qualys from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Three 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $151.67.

Qualys Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ QLYS traded down $4.71 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $136.01. 384,102 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 385,565. The company’s fifty day moving average is $143.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $135.70. Qualys has a fifty-two week low of $119.17 and a fifty-two week high of $174.73. The stock has a market cap of $4.98 billion, a PE ratio of 29.91 and a beta of 0.56.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.16). Qualys had a net margin of 28.72% and a return on equity of 40.24%. Research analysts forecast that Qualys will post 4.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 8,555 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.62, for a total transaction of $1,322,774.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 64,032 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,900,627.84. The trade was a 11.79 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.49, for a total transaction of $941,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 225,453 shares in the company, valued at $30,321,173.97. This represents a 3.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 31,259 shares of company stock worth $4,578,153. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Qualys

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Amalgamated Bank grew its position in Qualys by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 16,640 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $2,333,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Financial Enhancement Group LLC increased its position in Qualys by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Enhancement Group LLC now owns 6,100 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $784,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in shares of Qualys by 33.9% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 391 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Qualys by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,089 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $153,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Coast Financial LLC raised its holdings in Qualys by 0.6% during the third quarter. West Coast Financial LLC now owns 23,177 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $2,977,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. 99.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.