First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 920,163 shares of the software maker's stock after acquiring an additional 38,880 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 2.51% of Qualys worth $129,025,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of QLYS. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Qualys by 1,386.2% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 355,699 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $49,876,000 after acquiring an additional 331,766 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Qualys by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,312,662 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $604,721,000 after buying an additional 131,339 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its position in shares of Qualys by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,049,623 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $147,178,000 after purchasing an additional 123,530 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Qualys in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $15,937,000. Finally, CDAM UK Ltd lifted its holdings in Qualys by 21.6% during the 4th quarter. CDAM UK Ltd now owns 611,793 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $85,786,000 after purchasing an additional 108,880 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.31% of the company's stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
QLYS has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com raised Qualys from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 12th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Qualys in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Qualys from $120.00 to $90.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group decreased 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $142.21.
View Our Latest Research Report on QLYS
Insider Activity at Qualys
In other Qualys news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.17, for a total value of $995,190.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,144 shares of the company's stock, valued at $34,994,292.48. This trade represents a 2.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 524 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.38, for a total transaction of $67,795.12. Following the sale, the insider now owns 65,053 shares in the company, valued at $8,416,557.14. This represents a 0.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 26,138 shares of company stock worth $3,519,970 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.
Qualys Trading Up 1.9 %
Shares of NASDAQ QLYS traded up $2.24 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $121.74. The company's stock had a trading volume of 338,387 shares, compared to its average volume of 396,145. The firm has a market cap of $4.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.18 and a beta of 0.71. Qualys, Inc. has a 12-month low of $112.61 and a 12-month high of $174.20. The business's 50 day moving average is $128.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $135.83.
Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.16). Qualys had a return on equity of 38.52% and a net margin of 28.59%. On average, analysts predict that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Qualys Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
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