Alliancebernstein L.P. Sells 11,507 Shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Alliancebernstein L.P. cut its holdings in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) by 10.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 101,558 shares of the software maker's stock after selling 11,507 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 0.28% of Qualys worth $14,240,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Qualys in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Qualys in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in Qualys by 33.9% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 391 shares of the software maker's stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its position in Qualys by 56.2% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 439 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Qualys in the fourth quarter worth $91,000. 99.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Qualys

In related news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 882 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.66, for a total value of $123,180.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 62,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,700,119.70. This trade represents a 1.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 4,487 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $628,180.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 112,757 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,785,980. This represents a 3.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 26,480 shares of company stock valued at $3,654,266 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on QLYS. StockNews.com raised shares of Qualys from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. Scotiabank cut their target price on Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Northland Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $146.00 price objective (down previously from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Qualys from $162.00 to $135.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Qualys in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an "underweight" rating and a $120.00 price target on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $144.36.

Qualys Price Performance

QLYS traded down $0.09 on Monday, hitting $124.01. The company had a trading volume of 28,183 shares, compared to its average volume of 398,822. The stock has a market cap of $4.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.67 and a beta of 0.71. Qualys, Inc. has a 1-year low of $112.61 and a 1-year high of $174.20. The company's fifty day moving average price is $130.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $136.21.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.16). Qualys had a return on equity of 38.52% and a net margin of 28.59%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 EPS for the current year.

Qualys 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.