Congress Asset Management Co. Sells 262,516 Shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Congress Asset Management Co. trimmed its holdings in shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) by 26.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 733,896 shares of the software maker's stock after selling 262,516 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. owned about 1.99% of Qualys worth $94,276,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in QLYS. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Qualys by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,839,801 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $640,748,000 after acquiring an additional 83,504 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its position in Qualys by 14.5% in the third quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 926,093 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $118,966,000 after purchasing an additional 117,079 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Qualys by 50.9% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 501,847 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $83,743,000 after buying an additional 169,293 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of Qualys by 15.3% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 474,100 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $67,607,000 after buying an additional 63,000 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Qualys by 0.8% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 439,434 shares of the software maker's stock worth $62,663,000 after purchasing an additional 3,357 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.31% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Qualys news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 616 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.93, for a total transaction of $82,500.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 87,077 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,662,222.61. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,330 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.80, for a total transaction of $164,654.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 55,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,885,508.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 616 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.93, for a total value of $82,500.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 87,077 shares in the company, valued at $11,662,222.61. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,535 shares of company stock worth $1,442,641. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Qualys Price Performance

Shares of QLYS traded down $1.49 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $119.24. The company's stock had a trading volume of 314,059 shares, compared to its average volume of 424,094. Qualys, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $119.17 and a fifty-two week high of $206.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $124.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $137.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.56 and a beta of 0.46.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The software maker reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.20. Qualys had a net margin of 29.36% and a return on equity of 44.80%. The firm had revenue of $148.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $148.80 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.95 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Northland Securities reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $140.00 target price (down from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Qualys from $136.00 to $123.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com cut Qualys from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 3rd. Scotiabank cut their price target on Qualys from $167.00 to $150.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on Qualys from $170.00 to $140.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $144.23.

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.