Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Given New $140.00 Price Target at Scotiabank

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) had its price objective trimmed by Scotiabank from $150.00 to $140.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a sector perform rating on the software maker’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on QLYS. StockNews.com raised Qualys from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Qualys from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Qualys from $150.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Qualys from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Qualys from $120.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $149.25.

Qualys Stock Down 3.7 %

Shares of QLYS stock opened at $135.57 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.96 billion, a PE ratio of 29.15 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $143.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $135.70. Qualys has a 52 week low of $119.17 and a 52 week high of $174.73.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.16). Qualys had a return on equity of 39.64% and a net margin of 28.59%. Analysts anticipate that Qualys will post 4.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Qualys news, Director Jeffrey P. Hank sold 4,000 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.31, for a total value of $585,240.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 12,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,853,162.46. The trade was a 24.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 8,555 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.62, for a total value of $1,322,774.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 64,032 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,900,627.84. This represents a 11.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 31,259 shares of company stock worth $4,578,153 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Qualys

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Qualys by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,749 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $806,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Qualys during the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,310,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in Qualys by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,139 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $721,000 after purchasing an additional 473 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in Qualys during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,775,000. Finally, Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Qualys in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,640,000. Institutional investors own 99.31% of the company’s stock.

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.