Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) Position Decreased by Congress Asset Management Co.

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

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its position in shares of Qualys by 25.7% in the 4th quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 56,223 shares of the software maker's stock worth $7,884,000 after purchasing an additional 11,506 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Qualys by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 7,833 shares of the software maker's stock worth $1,095,000 after purchasing an additional 933 shares in the last quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management increased its holdings in Qualys by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 2,797 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $392,000 after buying an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in Qualys during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,508,000. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its holdings in Qualys by 26.9% during the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 4,253 shares of the software maker's stock worth $596,000 after buying an additional 902 shares during the last quarter. 99.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.81, for a total transaction of $866,670.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 246,313 shares in the company, valued at $30,496,012.53. This trade represents a 2.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 845 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.96, for a total value of $118,266.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 100,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,006,497. The trade was a 0.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 24,472 shares of company stock worth $3,181,068. 0.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Qualys in a report on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective 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. Wedbush dropped their target price on shares of Qualys from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Qualys from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on shares of Qualys from $163.00 to $158.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $137.50.

Qualys Price Performance

QLYS stock traded down $0.09 on Monday, reaching $141.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 291,462 shares, compared to its average volume of 378,364. Qualys, Inc. has a 52 week low of $112.61 and a 52 week high of $170.00. The company has a market capitalization of $5.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.49 and a beta of 0.61. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $129.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $135.98.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $159.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $157.05 million. Qualys had a return on equity of 38.52% and a net margin of 28.59%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.45 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.