Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Earns Hold Rating from Analysts at Needham & Company LLC

Equities research analysts at Needham & Company LLC began coverage on shares of Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) in a research report issued on Wednesday, StockNewsAPI reports. The brokerage set a “hold” rating on the software maker’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on QLYS. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Qualys from $167.00 to $150.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Qualys from $180.00 to $150.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Qualys from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. DA Davidson upgraded Qualys from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective 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 analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $144.46.

Qualys Stock Performance

Shares of Qualys stock opened at $128.23 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $124.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $136.16. The company has a market cap of $4.72 billion, a PE ratio of 28.24 and a beta of 0.47. Qualys has a one year low of $119.17 and a one year high of $206.35.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The software maker reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $148.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $148.80 million. Qualys had a return on equity of 44.80% and a net margin of 29.36%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Qualys will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total transaction of $876,470.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 179,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,493,851.29. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Qualys news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,330 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.80, for a total value of $164,654.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 55,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,885,508.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total value of $876,470.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 179,649 shares in the company, valued at $22,493,851.29. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,919 shares of company stock valued at $1,360,140 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Qualys

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Qualys in the third quarter valued at $445,000. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its position in Qualys by 14.5% during the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 15,851 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $2,036,000 after buying an additional 2,010 shares during the period. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Qualys during the third quarter worth about $224,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in Qualys by 19.7% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,177 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $151,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the period. Finally, Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Qualys by 1.0% during the third quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 32,851 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $4,220,000 after buying an additional 326 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.