Bank of America Corp DE Raises Stake in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) by 35.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 296,438 shares of the software maker's stock after purchasing an additional 77,663 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 0.81% of Qualys worth $41,567,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Qualys in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Qualys during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in Qualys by 88.1% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 333 shares of the software maker's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Qualys during the 4th quarter worth $54,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in Qualys by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 391 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.31% of the company's stock.

Qualys Stock Up 0.0%

QLYS traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $136.90. The company had a trading volume of 237,059 shares, compared to its average volume of 385,228. Qualys, Inc. has a 1 year low of $112.61 and a 1 year high of $170.00. The company has a market cap of $4.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.44 and a beta of 0.61. The business has a 50-day moving average of $126.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $136.76.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The software maker reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.21. Qualys had a return on equity of 38.52% and a net margin of 28.59%. The business had revenue of $159.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $157.05 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.45 EPS. Qualys's revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on QLYS. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Qualys from $131.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. StockNews.com raised Qualys from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price target on shares of Qualys from $163.00 to $158.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Qualys from $120.00 to $90.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Northland Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $146.00 target price (down from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Qualys has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $137.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Qualys

In related news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 524 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.38, for a total value of $67,795.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 65,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,416,557.14. This trade represents a 0.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,018 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.75, for a total value of $129,031.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 100,920 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,791,610. This represents a 1.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 15,127 shares of company stock worth $1,905,108. Insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

Qualys 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.