Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Stock Price Expected to Rise, DA Davidson Analyst Says

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) had its price target upped by DA Davidson from $120.00 to $147.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the software maker’s stock. DA Davidson’s target price would indicate a potential downside of 0.97% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on QLYS. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Qualys from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Northland Securities reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $140.00 price target (down from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Qualys from $150.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wedbush dropped their price target on Qualys from $190.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Qualys from $170.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $151.47.

Qualys Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ QLYS traded up $20.21 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $148.44. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,116,177 shares, compared to its average volume of 433,159. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.46 billion, a PE ratio of 32.70 and a beta of 0.47. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $124.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $136.16. Qualys has a 52 week low of $119.17 and a 52 week high of $206.35.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The software maker reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.20. Qualys had a return on equity of 44.80% and a net margin of 29.36%. The company had revenue of $148.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $148.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.95 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Qualys will post 3.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Qualys

In other news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,330 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.80, for a total value of $164,654.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 55,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,885,508.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 616 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.54, for a total value of $76,100.64. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 86,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,695,599.04. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,330 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.80, for a total value of $164,654.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 55,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,885,508.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 10,919 shares of company stock worth $1,360,140. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Enhancement Group LLC increased its holdings in Qualys by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Enhancement Group LLC now owns 6,100 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $784,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in Qualys by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 4,896 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $699,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Legacy Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Qualys by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 8,272 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,180,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Qualys by 8.1% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,684 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $281,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in Qualys by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 46,436 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $6,622,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.