Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Now Covered by Morgan Stanley

Equities researchers at Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) in a report issued on Tuesday. The brokerage set an “underweight” rating and a $120.00 price target on the software maker’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target points to a potential downside of 7.58% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on QLYS. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a report on Monday, February 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on Qualys from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Qualys from $162.00 to $135.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their price target on Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Qualys has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $146.14.

Qualys Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:QLYS traded down $0.65 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $129.85. The company had a trading volume of 6,564 shares, compared to its average volume of 386,555. Qualys has a 1-year low of $119.17 and a 1-year high of $174.20. The stock has a market cap of $4.74 billion, a PE ratio of 27.71 and a beta of 0.56. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $136.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $136.07.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.16). Qualys had a return on equity of 38.52% and a net margin of 28.59%. On average, research analysts expect that Qualys will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,635 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.64, for a total value of $226,676.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 112,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,530,036.88. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 855 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.24, for a total transaction of $121,615.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 63,177 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,986,296.48. This represents a 1.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 26,926 shares of company stock worth $3,745,742. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Qualys

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Qualys by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,312,662 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $604,721,000 after purchasing an additional 131,339 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Qualys by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,262,931 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $178,445,000 after purchasing an additional 16,369 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its position in shares of Qualys by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,049,623 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $147,178,000 after purchasing an additional 123,530 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of Qualys by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 954,583 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $133,852,000 after buying an additional 88,347 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Qualys by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 920,163 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $129,025,000 after buying an additional 38,880 shares during the last quarter. 99.31% of the stock is owned by 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.