Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 131,339 Shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,312,662 shares of the software maker's stock after buying an additional 131,339 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 11.79% of Qualys worth $604,721,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bridge City Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Qualys by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Bridge City Capital LLC now owns 21,396 shares of the software maker's stock worth $3,000,000 after buying an additional 1,257 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in Qualys by 34.1% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 35,136 shares of the software maker's stock worth $4,927,000 after acquiring an additional 8,935 shares during the period. Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Qualys in the 4th quarter valued at $285,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of Qualys in the 4th quarter worth $1,739,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Qualys during the fourth quarter worth $510,000. 99.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Qualys Price Performance

NASDAQ:QLYS traded down $4.68 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $118.59. 542,215 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 396,454. The stock has a market cap of $4.33 billion, a PE ratio of 25.50 and a beta of 0.71. Qualys, Inc. has a twelve month low of $116.67 and a twelve month high of $174.20. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $133.80 and a 200 day moving average of $136.39.

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Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 38.52% and a net margin of 28.59%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Northland Securities reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $146.00 target price (down previously from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a research note on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Qualys from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Loop Capital cut their target price on shares of Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, 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 report on Friday, February 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Qualys currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $144.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,635 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.64, for a total transaction of $226,676.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 112,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,530,036.88. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 524 shares of the company'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 sale, the insider now directly owns 65,053 shares in the company, valued at $8,416,557.14. This trade represents a 0.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 26,595 shares of company stock worth $3,691,922. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

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.