Insider Selling: Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) Insider Sells 8,555 Shares of Stock

Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) insider Bruce K. Posey sold 8,555 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.62, for a total value of $1,322,774.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 64,032 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,900,627.84. This represents a 11.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Qualys Trading Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ:QLYS traded up $2.02 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $157.61. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 221,442 shares, compared to its average volume of 440,904. Qualys, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $119.17 and a fifty-two week high of $206.35. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $134.91 and a 200-day moving average of $134.93. The company has a market capitalization of $5.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.72 and a beta of 0.54.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The software maker reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.23. Qualys had a net margin of 28.72% and a return on equity of 40.24%. The firm had revenue of $153.87 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $150.74 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.24 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Qualys, Inc. will post 4.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on QLYS shares. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Qualys from $167.00 to $150.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Northland Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $140.00 price target (down from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on Qualys from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Qualys from $120.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Qualys from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $152.80.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in QLYS. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Qualys by 294.7% during the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 225 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of Qualys by 149.0% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 239 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Qualys during the 2nd quarter valued at $40,000. DT Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in Qualys in the 2nd quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Qualys by 53.6% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 639 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by 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.