Congress Asset Management Co. Sells 678,552 Shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Congress Asset Management Co. decreased its position in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) by 98.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,945 shares of the software maker's stock after selling 678,552 shares during the quarter. Congress Asset Management Co.'s holdings in Qualys were worth $1,126,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of QLYS. NBC Securities Inc. raised its position in Qualys by 118,250.0% in the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,367 shares of the software maker's stock worth $298,000 after acquiring an additional 2,365 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Morris Harris LLC acquired a new position in shares of Qualys in the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,560,000. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Qualys by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 117,401 shares of the software maker's stock worth $14,784,000 after purchasing an additional 1,504 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Qualys by 43,505.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 122,530 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $15,430,000 after purchasing an additional 122,249 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 111 Capital bought a new stake in Qualys during the fourth quarter worth approximately $299,000. Institutional investors own 99.31% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 845 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.96, for a total value of $118,266.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 100,075 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,006,497. The trade was a 0.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 65,053 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,416,557.14. This 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 24,472 shares of company stock worth $3,181,068. Insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

Qualys Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:QLYS traded up $0.67 during trading on Thursday, reaching $140.68. 194,898 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 377,255. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $130.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $135.97. Qualys, Inc. has a 1-year low of $112.61 and a 1-year high of $170.00. The firm has a market cap of $5.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.25 and a beta of 0.61.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The software maker reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the company earned $1.45 earnings per share. Qualys's quarterly revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target on Qualys from $163.00 to $158.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen raised Qualys from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 12th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Qualys from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Qualys from $122.00 to $117.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Scotiabank set a $142.00 price target on shares of Qualys and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $137.50.

Qualys Company 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.