KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Purchases New Position in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 12,400 shares of the software maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,739,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of QLYS. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Qualys by 1,386.2% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 355,699 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $49,876,000 after acquiring an additional 331,766 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its stake in shares of Qualys by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,049,623 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $147,178,000 after purchasing an additional 123,530 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Qualys during the fourth quarter worth $15,937,000. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Qualys by 101.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 112,214 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $14,415,000 after purchasing an additional 56,613 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Qualys during the 4th quarter valued at $4,699,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.31% of the company’s stock.

Qualys Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:QLYS opened at $127.18 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.64 billion, a PE ratio of 27.35 and a beta of 0.56. Qualys, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $119.17 and a fifty-two week high of $174.20. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $135.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $136.29.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last announced its quarterly 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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Qualys

In other Qualys news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.17, for a total value of $995,190.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 246,144 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,994,292.48. This trade represents a 2.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 524 shares of the business’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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 26,595 shares of company stock worth $3,691,922. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on QLYS shares. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price target on Qualys from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded Qualys from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Northland Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $146.00 price target (down from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a report on Monday, February 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Qualys presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $146.14.

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.