Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 284,183 Shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. trimmed its stake in shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) by 79.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 71,516 shares of the software maker's stock after selling 284,183 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.20% of Qualys worth $9,006,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in QLYS. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Qualys during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Qualys during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its position in shares of Qualys by 88.1% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 333 shares of the software maker's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Qualys during the fourth quarter worth $54,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in Qualys by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 932 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $131,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the period. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,358 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.87, for a total transaction of $169,573.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 105,740 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,203,753.80. This trade represents a 1.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 524 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.38, for a total transaction of $67,795.12. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. Insiders sold a total of 33,629 shares of company stock worth $4,457,932 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Qualys Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:QLYS traded down $2.29 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $137.91. 199,278 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 376,048. Qualys, Inc. has a 12 month low of $112.61 and a 12 month high of $170.00. The company has a market cap of $5.01 billion, a PE ratio of 28.17 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $132.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $135.41.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The software maker reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.21. Qualys had a return on equity of 38.05% and a net margin of 29.19%. The firm had revenue of $159.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $157.05 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.45 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on QLYS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Qualys from $122.00 to $117.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Scotiabank set a $142.00 target price on Qualys and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on Qualys from $163.00 to $158.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Qualys from $131.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Qualys from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $137.50.

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.