Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) Shares Sold by Prudential Financial Inc.

Prudential Financial Inc. cut its position in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) by 44.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,637 shares of the software maker's stock after selling 2,965 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.'s holdings in Qualys were worth $529,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in QLYS. Amalgamated Bank boosted its stake in shares of Qualys by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 16,640 shares of the software maker's stock worth $2,333,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in Qualys by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,749 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $806,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in Qualys by 33.9% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 391 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Qualys by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,089 shares of the software maker's stock worth $153,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Qualys by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 6,035 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $846,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.31% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on QLYS shares. Loop Capital cut their price objective on Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Qualys in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $120.00 price target for the company. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Qualys in a research report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Qualys from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Qualys from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 31st. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Qualys has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $144.36.

Qualys Stock Performance

Shares of QLYS traded up $1.32 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $124.10. The stock had a trading volume of 444,613 shares, compared to its average volume of 400,220. Qualys, Inc. has a 12-month low of $112.61 and a 12-month high of $174.20. The firm has a market cap of $4.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.69 and a beta of 0.71. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $130.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $136.21.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last released 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 net margin of 28.59% and a return on equity of 38.52%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 882 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.66, for a total value of $123,180.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 62,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,700,119.70. The trade was a 1.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,358 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.87, for a total transaction of $169,573.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 105,740 shares in the company, valued at $13,203,753.80. This represents a 1.27 % 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 worth $3,654,266 in the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.