Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) Stake Boosted by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) by 40.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 29,015 shares of the software maker's stock after buying an additional 8,291 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 0.08% of Qualys worth $3,525,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Qualys by 2.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,839,801 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $640,748,000 after acquiring an additional 83,504 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its stake in Qualys by 14.5% during 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. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in Qualys by 15.3% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 474,100 shares of the software maker's stock worth $67,607,000 after buying an additional 63,000 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Qualys by 0.8% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 439,434 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $62,663,000 after buying an additional 3,357 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van Berkom & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Qualys by 1.3% in the second quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 372,338 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $53,095,000 after acquiring an additional 4,932 shares during the period. 99.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,339 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.56, for a total value of $165,446.84. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 55,279 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,830,273.24. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,330 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.80, for a total value of $164,654.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 55,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,885,508.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,339 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.56, for a total transaction of $165,446.84. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 55,279 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,830,273.24. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 10,919 shares of company stock valued at $1,360,140. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Qualys from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Qualys from $116.00 to $115.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Qualys from $150.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com cut Qualys from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on Qualys from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $152.80.

Qualys Stock Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ QLYS traded down $1.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $153.99. The stock had a trading volume of 711,963 shares, compared to its average volume of 598,234. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $126.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $135.85. The company has a market cap of $5.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.92 and a beta of 0.47. Qualys, Inc. has a 52-week low of $119.17 and a 52-week high of $206.35.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The software maker reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.23. Qualys had a return on equity of 40.24% and a net margin of 28.72%. The firm had revenue of $153.87 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $150.74 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.24 EPS. Qualys's revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Qualys, Inc. will post 0.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.