Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Price Target Raised to $140.00

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) had its price objective hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an underweight rating on the software maker’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on QLYS. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Qualys from $160.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Qualys from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Qualys from $180.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $190.00 price target on shares of Qualys in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Qualys from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $195.00.

Qualys Stock Down 5.3%

Shares of QLYS opened at $173.09 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.04 billion, a PE ratio of 29.85 and a beta of 0.54. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $191.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $137.75. Qualys has a 52-week low of $74.51 and a 52-week high of $235.54.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 9th. The software maker reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.16. Qualys had a net margin of 29.59% and a return on equity of 37.09%. The company had revenue of $188.05 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $186.63 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.86 EPS. Qualys’s revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Qualys will post 5.84 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Qualys

In related news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 2,659 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.66, for a total transaction of $557,485.94. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 68,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,300,489.28. The trade was a 3.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Bruce Posey sold 881 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider owned 57,807 shares in the company, valued at $10,955,582.64. This represents a 1.50% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 11,672 shares of company stock valued at $2,192,747 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Qualys

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Qualys during the 2nd quarter worth about $792,316,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Qualys during the 2nd quarter worth $197,624,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Qualys by 127.0% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 832,796 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $73,161,000 after purchasing an additional 465,952 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Qualys during the 2nd quarter valued at $39,044,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Qualys during the 2nd quarter valued at $21,852,000. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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

About Qualys

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.