Scotiabank Lowers Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Price Target to $140.00

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) had its target price reduced by stock analysts at Scotiabank from $150.00 to $140.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “sector perform” rating on the software maker’s stock. Scotiabank’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 2.73% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on QLYS. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on shares of Qualys from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Qualys from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Needham & Company LLC initiated coverage on shares of Qualys in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Qualys from $150.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Qualys from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Three investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $152.13.

Qualys Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:QLYS traded down $4.43 during trading on Friday, reaching $136.28. 349,261 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 384,804. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $143.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $135.70. Qualys has a 52-week low of $119.17 and a 52-week high of $174.73. The stock has a market cap of $4.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.02 and a beta of 0.56.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.16). Qualys had a return on equity of 40.24% and a net margin of 28.72%. Sell-side analysts expect that Qualys will post 4.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Jeffrey P. Hank sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.31, for a total value of $585,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,853,162.46. The trade was a 24.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.66, for a total transaction of $1,047,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 225,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,741,295.98. The trade was a 3.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 31,259 shares of company stock worth $4,578,153. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Qualys

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of QLYS. Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in Qualys in the third quarter valued at approximately $445,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in Qualys by 208.5% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 86,187 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $11,072,000 after acquiring an additional 58,252 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in Qualys by 428.9% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 18,256 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $2,345,000 after acquiring an additional 14,804 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Qualys by 40.0% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 29,015 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $3,525,000 after buying an additional 8,291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Qualys by 6.8% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 63,320 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $8,134,000 after purchasing an additional 4,040 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.31% of the company’s stock.

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.