Insider Selling: Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) CEO Sells $941,430.00 in Stock

Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.49, for a total transaction of $941,430.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 225,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,321,173.97. This represents a 3.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Qualys Stock Up 0.3 %

Qualys stock opened at $136.96 on Friday. Qualys, Inc. has a 52 week low of $119.17 and a 52 week high of $201.03. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $145.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $135.80. The stock has a market cap of $5.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.17 and a beta of 0.57.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last posted 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 return on equity of 40.24% and a net margin of 28.72%. The business had revenue of $153.87 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $150.74 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.24 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Qualys, Inc. will post 4.34 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on QLYS shares. Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Qualys from $150.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Qualys from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Needham & Company LLC assumed coverage on Qualys in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Qualys from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $152.80.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Qualys

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Qualys in the second quarter valued at about $40,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Qualys by 80.8% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 432 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Qualys by 53.6% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Qualys during the fourth quarter valued at $91,000. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Qualys by 68.6% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 730 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $94,000 after buying an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.