Prudential PLC Sells 7,586 Shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Prudential PLC lessened its holdings in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) by 63.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,352 shares of the software maker's stock after selling 7,586 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC's holdings in Qualys were worth $610,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Qualys during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Qualys during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in shares of Qualys by 33.9% in 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 during the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of Qualys by 56.2% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 439 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Qualys during the 4th quarter worth $91,000. Institutional investors own 99.31% of the company's stock.

Qualys Trading Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ QLYS traded up $1.32 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $124.10. 444,613 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 400,220. The firm has a market cap of $4.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.69 and a beta of 0.71. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $130.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $136.21. Qualys, Inc. has a 1-year low of $112.61 and a 1-year high of $174.20.

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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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Qualys

In other Qualys news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 882 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 62,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,700,119.70. This represents a 1.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.49, for a total value of $941,430.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 225,453 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,321,173.97. This trade represents a 3.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 26,480 shares of company stock valued at $3,654,266 in the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on QLYS shares. Northland Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $146.00 target price (down from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Qualys from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 31st. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Qualys in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their price objective on shares of Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $144.36.

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.