Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Given New $158.00 Price Target at Canaccord Genuity Group

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) had its target price lowered by Canaccord Genuity Group from $163.00 to $158.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the software maker’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on QLYS. Northland Securities restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $146.00 price target (down previously from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Qualys from $162.00 to $135.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Qualys from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Qualys from $122.00 to $117.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Qualys from $120.00 to $90.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Qualys currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $137.50.

Qualys Price Performance

Qualys stock opened at $132.31 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.81 billion, a PE ratio of 28.45 and a beta of 0.61. The business’s fifty day moving average is $125.57 and its 200 day moving average is $135.96. Qualys has a one year low of $112.61 and a one year high of $170.00.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The software maker reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $159.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $157.05 million. Qualys had a return on equity of 38.52% and a net margin of 28.59%. Qualys’s revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.45 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Qualys will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Qualys

In other Qualys news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.17, for a total transaction of $995,190.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 246,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,994,292.48. This trade represents a 2.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,018 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.75, for a total transaction of $129,031.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 100,920 shares in the company, valued at $12,791,610. This represents a 1.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 31,156 shares of company stock worth $4,164,721. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Qualys

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of QLYS. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Qualys by 1,386.2% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 355,699 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $49,876,000 after acquiring an additional 331,766 shares in the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Qualys in the fourth quarter valued at $27,086,000. Penserra Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Qualys by 53.3% in the 1st quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 499,084 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $62,849,000 after buying an additional 173,512 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Qualys by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,312,662 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $604,721,000 after acquiring an additional 131,339 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp raised 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 worth $147,178,000 after purchasing an additional 123,530 shares during the last quarter. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Qualys

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.