Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. decreased its position in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) by 14.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 33,891 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 5,558 shares during the quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned 0.09% of Qualys worth $5,655,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Qualys by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,827 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,640,000 after buying an additional 747 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Qualys by 8.1% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,684 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $281,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Qualys in the first quarter worth $116,000. Vident Advisory LLC grew its stake in Qualys by 18.5% in the first quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 27,742 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $4,629,000 after purchasing an additional 4,331 shares during the period. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in Qualys in the first quarter worth $2,503,000. Institutional investors own 99.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on QLYS shares. Scotiabank started coverage on Qualys in a research note on Friday, April 26th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $172.00 target price on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Qualys from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Qualys from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Qualys from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Qualys presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $164.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,330 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.24, for a total transaction of $193,169.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 59,616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,658,627.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Wendy Pfeiffer sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.72, for a total value of $291,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 8,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,237,162.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,330 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.24, for a total transaction of $193,169.20. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 59,616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,658,627.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 30,027 shares of company stock valued at $4,216,326. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Qualys Trading Up 2.1 %

NASDAQ:QLYS opened at $147.47 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.14 and a beta of 0.49. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $141.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $160.14. Qualys, Inc. has a 12-month low of $131.07 and a 12-month high of $206.35.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The software maker reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $145.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $145.67 million. Qualys had a return on equity of 47.28% and a net margin of 28.48%. On average, research analysts predict that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.