Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Given “Market Perform” Rating at Northland Securities

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS)‘s stock had its “market perform” rating reaffirmed by research analysts at Northland Securities in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $146.00 price target on the software maker’s stock, down from their previous price target of $150.00. Northland Securities’ price objective suggests a potential upside of 7.69% from the stock’s previous close.

QLYS has been the subject of a number of other reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on Qualys from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on Qualys from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Needham & Company LLC initiated coverage on shares of Qualys in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Qualys from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $146.57.

Qualys Price Performance

Shares of QLYS opened at $135.57 on Monday. Qualys has a 1-year low of $119.17 and a 1-year high of $174.73. The company has a market capitalization of $4.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.15 and a beta of 0.56. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $143.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $135.53.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 8,555 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.62, for a total value of $1,322,774.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 64,032 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,900,627.84. This represents a 11.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.49, for a total transaction of $941,430.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 225,453 shares in the company, valued at $30,321,173.97. This trade represents a 3.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,259 shares of company stock valued at $4,578,153 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qualys

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in QLYS. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Qualys during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Qualys during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in Qualys by 33.9% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 391 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Qualys by 80.8% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 432 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP raised its position in Qualys by 56.2% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 439 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 158 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.