Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Price Target Raised to $185.00

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) had its target price upped by Piper Sandler from $175.00 to $185.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the software maker’s stock.

QLYS has been the subject of several other reports. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Qualys from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Qualys from $150.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Zacks Research raised Qualys from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Yorkville Ives began coverage on Qualys in a report on Monday, October 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $230.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Qualys from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $195.00.

Qualys Stock Performance

Shares of QLYS opened at $173.09 on Tuesday. Qualys has a fifty-two week low of $74.51 and a fifty-two week high of $235.54. The company has a market capitalization of $6.04 billion, a PE ratio of 29.85 and a beta of 0.54. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $191.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $137.75.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 9th. The software maker reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.16. Qualys had a return on equity of 37.09% and a net margin of 29.59%. The business had revenue of $188.05 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $186.63 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.86 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Qualys will post 5.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 881 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.52, for a total value of $166,967.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 57,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,955,582.64. This represents a 1.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 2,659 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.66, for a total transaction of $557,485.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 68,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,300,489.28. This represents a 3.75% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 11,672 shares of company stock worth $2,192,747 over the last ninety days. 0.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Qualys

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Qualys in the second quarter valued at about $792,316,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Qualys during the second quarter worth about $197,624,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Qualys by 127.0% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 832,796 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $73,161,000 after buying an additional 465,952 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Qualys in the second quarter worth about $39,044,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Qualys in the second quarter worth about $21,852,000. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Qualys News

Investors following QLYS have been watching these news items:

• Positive Sentiment: Robert W. Baird, Piper Sandler, Royal Bank of Canada and Morgan Stanley raised their price targets for Qualys. Wedbush and UBS analysts also expect the shares to rise, offering a counterpoint to the recent weakness. Baird price target Piper Sandler price target RBC price target Morgan Stanley price target Wedbush outlook UBS outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Qualys raised its guidance, but the accompanying coverage questions whether the stock’s valuation already reflects that improvement. The company also recently reported quarterly EPS and revenue above consensus, while revenue grew 10.7% year over year. Guidance and valuation
• Negative Sentiment: Jefferies maintained a Hold rating and lowered its expectations for Qualys’ share price. JPMorgan also cut its price target. Separately, a Seeking Alpha analysis argues that the valuation requires faster growth, reinforcing concerns that current growth may not justify the stock’s valuation. Jefferies outlook Jefferies expectations JPMorgan price target Valuation analysis

Qualys Company Profile

Qualys, Inc. provides cloud-based security and compliance software to help organizations identify and manage cybersecurity risks. Its platform brings together information about an organization’s IT assets and security posture to support vulnerability management, threat detection, and compliance activities. Qualys offers products and services for vulnerability assessment and remediation, cloud security, endpoint protection, web application security, and policy compliance. Its solutions are designed to help customers monitor systems across cloud environments, on-premises infrastructure, and other connected assets.