Analysts Set Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) Price Target at $146.57

Shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seventeen brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, thirteen have issued a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $146.57.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on QLYS shares. StockNews.com raised Qualys from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Northland Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $146.00 price objective (down previously from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on Qualys from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Qualys from $162.00 to $135.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,635 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.64, for a total transaction of $226,676.40. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 112,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,530,036.88. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 855 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.24, for a total value of $121,615.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 63,177 shares in the company, valued at $8,986,296.48. This trade represents a 1.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 26,926 shares of company stock worth $3,745,742 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Qualys by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,312,662 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $604,721,000 after purchasing an additional 131,339 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Qualys by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,262,931 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $178,445,000 after buying an additional 16,369 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its position in Qualys by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,049,623 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $147,178,000 after buying an additional 123,530 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Qualys by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 954,583 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $133,852,000 after buying an additional 88,347 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Qualys by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 920,163 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $129,025,000 after purchasing an additional 38,880 shares in the last quarter. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Qualys Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:QLYS opened at $130.49 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $136.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $136.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.76 billion, a PE ratio of 28.06 and a beta of 0.56. Qualys has a 1 year low of $119.17 and a 1 year high of $174.20.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.16). Qualys had a return on equity of 38.52% and a net margin of 28.59%. As a group, analysts expect that Qualys will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

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.