Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

QLYS has been the subject of a number of other reports. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Qualys from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Qualys from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Qualys from $150.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Qualys from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of Qualys from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $149.25.

Qualys Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ QLYS opened at $135.57 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $143.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $135.70. Qualys has a 52-week low of $119.17 and a 52-week high of $174.73. The company has a market capitalization of $4.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.86 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 EPS 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%. Analysts forecast that Qualys will post 4.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Qualys

In other news, Director Jeffrey P. Hank sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.31, for a total transaction of $585,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,853,162.46. This trade represents a 24.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 882 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.66, for a total transaction of $123,180.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 62,295 shares in the company, valued at $8,700,119.70. This trade represents a 1.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 31,259 shares of company stock worth $4,578,153 in the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Qualys

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Qualys during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Qualys during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Qualys by 80.8% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 432 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised 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 during the period. Finally, Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of Qualys by 56.2% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 439 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. 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.