JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has Lowered Expectations for Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Stock Price

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) had its price objective decreased by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $122.00 to $117.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “underweight” rating on the software maker’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective would suggest a potential downside of 8.90% from the company’s previous close.

QLYS has been the topic of a number of other reports. Northland Securities restated a “market perform” rating and set a $146.00 price target (down from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Loop Capital decreased their target price on Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped 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. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on shares of Qualys from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $140.53.

Qualys Stock Performance

Shares of QLYS stock opened at $128.43 on Monday. Qualys has a fifty-two week low of $112.61 and a fifty-two week high of $171.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $126.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $135.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.62 and a beta of 0.71.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $1.19 earnings per share 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, equities analysts forecast that Qualys will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.81, for a total transaction of $866,670.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 246,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,496,012.53. This represents a 2.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 524 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.38, for a total value of $67,795.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 65,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,416,557.14. This represents a 0.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 26,138 shares of company stock worth $3,519,970. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qualys

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Qualys by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 456,540 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $64,016,000 after buying an additional 3,848 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Qualys in the 4th quarter worth approximately $15,937,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in Qualys by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 7,833 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,095,000 after acquiring an additional 933 shares during the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. acquired a new stake in Qualys during the 4th quarter valued at $376,000. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC raised its position in Qualys by 26.9% in the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 4,253 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $596,000 after purchasing an additional 902 shares during the last quarter. 99.31% of the stock is currently 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.