Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday after Truist Financial lowered their price target on the stock from $165.00 to $130.00. The stock had previously closed at $137.10, but opened at $129.41. Truist Financial currently has a hold rating on the stock. Qualys shares last traded at $127.89, with a volume of 226,266 shares.

QLYS has been the subject of several other research reports. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Qualys from $116.00 to $115.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a report on Monday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Qualys from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Qualys in a report on Friday, April 26th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $172.00 price target for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Qualys from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $163.73.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.78, for a total value of $957,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 186,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,523,284.78. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.78, for a total value of $957,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 186,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,523,284.78. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 616 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.56, for a total value of $83,504.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 92,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,550,144.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 29,099 shares of company stock valued at $4,060,450. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of QLYS. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Qualys in the first quarter valued at $26,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in Qualys by 1,666.7% in the first quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 159 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in Qualys by 294.7% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 225 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its position in Qualys by 545.2% in the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 200 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the period. Finally, DecisionPoint Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Qualys in the first quarter worth about $34,000. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Qualys Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $140.53 and a 200 day moving average of $157.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.27 and a beta of 0.49.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The software maker reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.17. Qualys had a return on equity of 47.28% and a net margin of 28.48%. The firm had revenue of $145.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $145.67 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.