Norges Bank Buys Shares of 100,631 Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 100,631 shares of the software maker's stock, valued at approximately $14,110,000. Norges Bank owned about 0.28% of Qualys at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Qualys in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Qualys in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in shares of Qualys by 33.9% in the fourth 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 period. Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of Qualys by 56.2% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 439 shares of the software maker's stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Qualys in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $91,000. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Qualys in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Northland Securities reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $146.00 target price (down from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a report on Monday, February 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Qualys from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on Qualys from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Qualys from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $144.36.

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Qualys Price Performance

Shares of Qualys stock traded up $1.32 on Friday, hitting $124.10. The company had a trading volume of 444,613 shares, compared to its average volume of 399,832. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $130.64 and a 200-day moving average of $136.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.69 and a beta of 0.71. Qualys, Inc. has a twelve month low of $112.61 and a twelve month high of $174.20.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $1.19 EPS 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%. Equities analysts predict that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 4,487 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $628,180.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 112,757 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,785,980. This trade represents a 3.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.49, for a total transaction of $941,430.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 225,453 shares in the company, valued at $30,321,173.97. This trade represents a 3.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

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.