Renaissance Technologies LLC Lowers Holdings in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Renaissance Technologies LLC reduced its position in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) by 8.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 376,100 shares of the software maker's stock after selling 33,700 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned approximately 1.03% of Qualys worth $52,737,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Qualys during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Qualys during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Qualys by 88.1% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 333 shares of the software maker's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in Qualys by 33.9% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 391 shares of the software maker's stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Qualys during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $91,000. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Qualys news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 524 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.38, for a total transaction of $67,795.12. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 65,053 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,416,557.14. The trade was a 0.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.17, for a total transaction of $995,190.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,144 shares in the company, valued at $34,994,292.48. This trade represents a 2.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 19,480 shares of company stock worth $2,712,836 over the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Qualys from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on shares of Qualys from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Qualys from $162.00 to $135.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Qualys from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $144.36.

Qualys Stock Performance

Shares of Qualys stock traded up $1.05 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $124.29. 86,286 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 399,111. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.73 and a beta of 0.71. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $130.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $136.16. Qualys, Inc. has a 52-week low of $112.61 and a 52-week high of $174.20.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 28.59% and a return on equity of 38.52%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.