Principal Financial Group Inc. Lowers Position in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) by 24.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 107,342 shares of the software maker's stock after selling 35,644 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.29% of Qualys worth $13,789,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Qualys by 100.7% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 367,470 shares of the software maker's stock worth $52,401,000 after purchasing an additional 184,403 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Qualys by 95.7% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 286,005 shares of the software maker's stock worth $40,771,000 after buying an additional 139,897 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its position in shares of Qualys by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 926,093 shares of the software maker's stock worth $118,966,000 after buying an additional 117,079 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Qualys by 25.6% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 315,970 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $44,994,000 after buying an additional 64,394 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 63,000 shares in the last quarter. 99.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

QLYS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC began coverage on shares of Qualys in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Qualys from $150.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Qualys from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Qualys from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Westpark Capital reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Qualys in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $152.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Qualys

In related news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total transaction of $876,470.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 179,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,493,851.29. The trade was a 3.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 634 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.19, for a total transaction of $77,468.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 85,942 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,501,252.98. This represents a 0.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 30,715 shares of company stock valued at $4,406,251. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Qualys Stock Down 1.1 %

NASDAQ:QLYS traded down $1.51 on Friday, hitting $139.83. The stock had a trading volume of 145,681 shares, compared to its average volume of 432,260. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $143.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $135.86. The stock has a market cap of $5.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.80 and a beta of 0.54. Qualys, Inc. has a 52-week low of $119.17 and a 52-week high of $201.60.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The software maker reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.23. Qualys had a net margin of 28.72% and a return on equity of 40.24%. The company had revenue of $153.87 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $150.74 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.24 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Qualys, Inc. will post 4.34 EPS for the current year.

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.