BNP Paribas Financial Markets Purchases 4,040 Shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) by 6.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 63,320 shares of the software maker's stock after purchasing an additional 4,040 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned about 0.17% of Qualys worth $8,134,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in QLYS. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Qualys by 294.7% during the second 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. lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Qualys in the second quarter worth $40,000. DT Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Qualys in the second quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings 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 period. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Qualys Stock Performance

Qualys stock traded up $1.41 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $157.00. 93,148 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 440,342. The company's 50-day moving average is $134.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $134.93. Qualys, Inc. has a 52-week low of $119.17 and a 52-week high of $206.35. The firm has a market cap of $5.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.27 and a beta of 0.54.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The software maker reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $153.87 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $150.74 million. Qualys had a return on equity of 40.24% and a net margin of 28.72%. The business's revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.24 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Qualys, Inc. will post 4.34 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 616 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.54, for a total transaction of $76,100.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 86,576 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,695,599.04. The trade was a 0.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.66, for a total transaction of $1,047,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 225,453 shares of the company's stock, valued at $33,741,295.98. The trade was a 3.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 21,919 shares of company stock valued at $2,993,000. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on QLYS shares. Needham & Company LLC started coverage on Qualys in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Wedbush dropped their target price on shares of Qualys from $190.00 to $160.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Qualys in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Qualys from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Northland Securities restated a "market perform" rating and set a $140.00 price objective (down previously from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $152.80.

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.