Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Price Target Lowered to $163.00 at Canaccord Genuity Group

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) had its price objective trimmed by Canaccord Genuity Group from $170.00 to $163.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the software maker’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on QLYS. Wolfe Research raised shares of Qualys from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Qualys from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Qualys from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Qualys from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $149.25.

Qualys Stock Down 3.7 %

NASDAQ:QLYS opened at $135.57 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.96 billion, a PE ratio of 29.15 and a beta of 0.56. Qualys has a 12 month low of $119.17 and a 12 month high of $174.73. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $143.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $135.70.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last released its quarterly 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Qualys will post 4.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Jeffrey P. Hank sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.31, for a total transaction of $585,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 12,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,853,162.46. This represents a 24.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 8,555 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.62, for a total transaction of $1,322,774.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 64,032 shares in the company, 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 sold 31,259 shares of company stock worth $4,578,153 over the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Qualys

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Qualys during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Qualys during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Qualys by 80.8% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 432 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in shares of Qualys by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 391 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of Qualys by 56.2% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 439 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.