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

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on QLYS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Qualys from $122.00 to $117.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Wedbush dropped their price objective on Qualys from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on Qualys from $163.00 to $158.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Qualys from $120.00 to $90.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Scotiabank set a $142.00 price objective on Qualys and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Three research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $137.50.

Qualys Trading Down 1.4%

Qualys stock opened at $138.78 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.85 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $131.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $135.61. Qualys has a 12-month low of $112.61 and a 12-month high of $170.00.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The software maker reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $159.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $157.05 million. Qualys had a net margin of 28.59% and a return on equity of 38.52%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.45 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Qualys will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Qualys

In other news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 845 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.96, for a total value of $118,266.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 100,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,006,497. This trade represents a 0.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.86, for a total value of $63,644.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 64,513 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,603,502.18. This represents a 0.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 24,472 shares of company stock worth $3,181,068. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Qualys

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in Qualys during the fourth quarter worth $1,508,000. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC raised its holdings in Qualys by 26.9% during the fourth quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 4,253 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $596,000 after purchasing an additional 902 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Qualys by 34.0% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 38,890 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $5,453,000 after purchasing an additional 9,875 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its holdings in Qualys by 29.5% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 67,024 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $9,398,000 after purchasing an additional 15,284 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in Qualys by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 115,897 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $16,251,000 after purchasing an additional 3,196 shares during the last quarter. 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.