JPMorgan Chase & Co. Raises Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Price Target to $117.00

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) had its target price upped by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $115.00 to $117.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “underweight” rating on the software maker’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target would indicate a potential downside of 20.42% from the stock’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Robert W. Baird set a $150.00 price target on Qualys in a research report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Qualys from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 30th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Qualys from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Qualys from $150.00 to $139.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of Qualys from $158.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $140.38.

Qualys Price Performance

Shares of Qualys stock opened at $147.02 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $5.31 billion, a PE ratio of 29.35 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $131.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $134.25. Qualys has a 1 year low of $112.61 and a 1 year high of $159.73.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last announced its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $169.88 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $166.30 million. Qualys had a return on equity of 37.19% and a net margin of 29.04%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.56 EPS. 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 analysts expect that Qualys will post 3.85 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Qualys news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 787 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.17, for a total transaction of $101,656.79. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 92,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,995,242.88. This trade represents a 0.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 8,500 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.82, for a total transaction of $1,077,970.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 203,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,865,065.82. This trade represents a 4.00% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 38,346 shares of company stock worth $5,028,258 in the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qualys

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Qualys in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Qualys by 451.0% during the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 270 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Qualys in the 2nd quarter valued at $44,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Qualys by 82.7% in the 1st quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 369 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Qualys by 52.4% during the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 436 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.