Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Truist Financial Analyst Says

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) had its price objective upped by equities researchers at Truist Financial from $120.00 to $145.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “hold” rating on the software maker’s stock. Truist Financial’s target price would suggest a potential downside of 1.81% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Qualys from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Qualys in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $135.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com lowered Qualys from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Qualys from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wedbush lowered their target price on Qualys from $190.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Qualys presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $147.92.

Qualys Stock Up 15.2 %

QLYS traded up $19.45 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $147.68. 644,870 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 430,967. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $124.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $136.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.44 billion, a PE ratio of 32.40 and a beta of 0.47. Qualys has a 52-week low of $119.17 and a 52-week high of $206.35.

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

Insider Transactions at Qualys

In related news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total transaction of $876,470.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $22,493,851.29. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 616 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.54, for a total transaction of $76,100.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 86,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,695,599.04. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,919 shares of company stock valued at $1,360,140 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Qualys

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Qualys by 294.7% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 225 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in Qualys by 149.0% in the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 239 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Qualys in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $40,000. DT Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Qualys during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Qualys by 53.6% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 639 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the period. 99.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.