Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Stock Gets Price Target Cut from Jefferies Financial Group

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) had its target price trimmed by Jefferies Financial Group from $235.00 to $215.00 in a research note released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a hold rating on the software maker’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Northland Securities set a $208.00 price target on shares of Qualys in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Qualys from $180.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Qualys from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Qualys from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on Qualys from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $195.00.

Qualys Stock Down 5.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:QLYS opened at $173.09 on Tuesday. Qualys has a 52-week low of $74.51 and a 52-week high of $235.54. The company has a 50 day moving average of $191.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $137.75. The company has a market capitalization of $6.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.85 and a beta of 0.54.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 9th. The software maker reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $186.63 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.86 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Qualys will post 5.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 3,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.05, for a total transaction of $544,160.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 180,338 shares in the company, valued at $30,666,476.90. This trade represents a 1.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.52, for a total value of $166,967.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 57,807 shares in the company, valued at $10,955,582.64. This represents a 1.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,672 shares of company stock valued at $2,192,747. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Qualys

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. AlphaGrep UK Ltd boosted its position in shares of Qualys by 21.7% in the third quarter. AlphaGrep UK Ltd now owns 2,663 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $499,000 after buying an additional 474 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in Qualys by 21.3% during the third quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,796 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $336,000 after buying an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Qualys during the 3rd quarter worth $699,000. Private Wealth Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Qualys in the third quarter valued at about $219,000. Finally, USS Investment Management Ltd increased its position in Qualys by 26.1% in the 3rd quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd now owns 5,800 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,086,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares during the period. 99.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Qualys

These are some of the QLYS headlines that stood out recently:

• 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

Qualys Company Profile

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.