Bruce K. Posey Sells 524 Shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) Stock

Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) insider Bruce K. Posey sold 524 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.38, for a total value of $67,795.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 65,053 shares in the company, valued at $8,416,557.14. The trade was a 0.80 % 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 this hyperlink.

Qualys Stock Performance

NASDAQ QLYS traded down $0.94 on Friday, reaching $127.92. The stock had a trading volume of 832,845 shares, compared to its average volume of 387,259. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $136.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $136.03. Qualys, Inc. has a 12-month low of $119.17 and a 12-month high of $174.20. The stock has a market cap of $4.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.51 and a beta of 0.56.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $1.19 earnings per share (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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Qualys

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in QLYS. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted 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 worth $49,876,000 after acquiring an additional 331,766 shares during the period. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Qualys in the 4th quarter worth about $27,086,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Qualys by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,312,662 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $604,721,000 after buying an additional 131,339 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised 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 purchasing an additional 123,530 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in Qualys by 37.5% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 423,576 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $59,393,000 after purchasing an additional 115,427 shares in the last quarter. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on QLYS. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Qualys from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Northland Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $146.00 price objective (down from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Qualys in a research note on Tuesday. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $120.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Qualys has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $146.14.

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.