Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) Shares Acquired by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) by 34.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 38,890 shares of the software maker's stock after purchasing an additional 9,875 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 0.11% of Qualys worth $5,453,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Qualys by 1.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,246,562 shares of the software maker's stock worth $160,957,000 after buying an additional 20,038 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 123,530 shares during the last quarter. CDAM UK Ltd increased its position in Qualys by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. CDAM UK Ltd now owns 502,913 shares of the software maker's stock worth $64,604,000 after purchasing an additional 38,509 shares in the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Qualys by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 373,995 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $48,043,000 after purchasing an additional 28,802 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 331,766 shares in the last quarter. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on QLYS. Loop Capital lowered their price target on shares of Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Qualys from $120.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Westpark Capital reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Qualys in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Qualys from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, 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 note on Monday, February 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Qualys presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $146.57.

Qualys Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ QLYS traded down $3.20 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $136.20. The stock had a trading volume of 407,349 shares, compared to its average volume of 387,166. Qualys, Inc. has a 1-year low of $119.17 and a 1-year high of $174.31. The company has a market capitalization of $4.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.29 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $140.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $135.48.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.16). Qualys had a net margin of 28.59% and a return on equity of 38.52%. On average, research analysts forecast that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Qualys

In other Qualys news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 8,555 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.62, for a total value of $1,322,774.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 64,032 shares in the company, valued at $9,900,627.84. The trade was a 11.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,332 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.37, for a total value of $209,616.84. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 113,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,885,415.24. The trade was a 1.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 36,288 shares of company stock worth $5,204,906. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Qualys

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.