Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Earns “Hold” Rating from Truist Financial

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reaffirmed by stock analysts at Truist Financial in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $130.00 price objective on the software maker’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $145.00. Truist Financial’s target price would suggest a potential downside of 10.84% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on QLYS. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Qualys from $90.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $139.00 price objective on shares of Qualys in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Qualys in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Qualys in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wedbush raised their price objective on Qualys from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $139.93.

Qualys Stock Performance

NASDAQ QLYS traded up $24.60 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $145.81. 543,905 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 333,627. The business’s 50 day moving average is $131.08 and its 200-day moving average is $134.07. Qualys has a 12-month low of $112.61 and a 12-month high of $170.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.13 and a beta of 0.58.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The software maker reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.30. Qualys had a return on equity of 37.19% and a net margin of 29.04%.The firm had revenue of $169.88 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $166.30 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.56 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Qualys has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.930-7.000 EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at 1.730-1.800 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Qualys will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Qualys news, Director John A. Zangardi sold 3,103 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.94, for a total transaction of $418,718.82. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 4,071 shares in the company, valued at $549,340.74. This trade represents a 43.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.12, for a total value of $68,644.80. Following the sale, the insider owned 56,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,217,238. This trade represents a 0.94% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 38,346 shares of company stock worth $5,028,258 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qualys

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its stake in Qualys by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,146,289 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $151,688,000 after purchasing an additional 8,425 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Qualys by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,115,717 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $159,402,000 after acquiring an additional 44,000 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Qualys by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,051,673 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $150,253,000 after acquiring an additional 65,924 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Qualys by 46.9% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,012,100 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $144,133,000 after acquiring an additional 323,324 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in shares of Qualys by 92.2% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 643,238 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $81,003,000 after acquiring an additional 308,635 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.31% of the company’s stock.

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.