Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on QLYS. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Qualys from $90.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on shares of Qualys from $163.00 to $158.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Qualys from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Qualys from $122.00 to $117.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Qualys from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.00.

Qualys Stock Down 0.4%

Qualys stock opened at $127.89 on Friday. Qualys has a 52 week low of $112.61 and a 52 week high of $170.00. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $139.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $134.16. The stock has a market cap of $4.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.53 and a beta of 0.56.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The software maker reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.21. Qualys had a net margin of 29.04% and a return on equity of 37.19%. The company had revenue of $164.06 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $161.25 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.52 EPS. Qualys’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Qualys will post 3.85 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Jeffrey P. Hank sold 657 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.07, for a total value of $91,368.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 13,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,931,404.16. The trade was a 4.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 541 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.11, for a total transaction of $75,799.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 60,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,496,690.73. This trade represents a 0.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 42,598 shares of company stock valued at $6,019,818 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its position in Qualys by 2.4% in the second quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 4,006 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $572,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC grew its position in Qualys by 4.3% in the second quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC now owns 2,283 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $326,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Cim LLC grew its position in Qualys by 1.2% in the first quarter. Cim LLC now owns 8,561 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its position in Qualys by 1.2% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 8,776 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,105,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Securian Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Qualys by 3.7% in the first quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,809 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $354,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.