Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) Insider Sells $67,795.12 in Stock

Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) insider Bruce K. Posey sold 524 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.38, for a total transaction of $67,795.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 65,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,416,557.14. This represents a 0.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Qualys Stock Down 0.7 %

QLYS stock traded down $0.94 during trading on Friday, hitting $127.92. The company had a trading volume of 832,845 shares, compared to its average volume of 387,259. The stock has a market cap of $4.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.51 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $136.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $136.03. Qualys, Inc. has a 12 month low of $119.17 and a 12 month high of $174.20.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last released its earnings results 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%. Equities analysts expect that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qualys

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 58,252 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 14,804 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Qualys by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 456,540 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $64,016,000 after buying an additional 3,848 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Qualys by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 7,833 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,095,000 after purchasing an additional 933 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in Qualys by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 63,320 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $8,134,000 after acquiring an additional 4,040 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on QLYS. StockNews.com raised shares of Qualys from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on Qualys from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Loop Capital lowered their price target on Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Northland Securities reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $146.00 price objective (down from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a report on Monday, February 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $146.14.

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.