Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Sells 12,145 Shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Key Points

• Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. reduced its stake in Qualys, Inc. by 12.1%, selling 12,145 shares and retaining 88,212 shares worth approximately $11.1 million.
• Analysts have varied outlooks on Qualys, with target price estimates ranging from $117 to $155, and a consensus rating of "Hold."
• CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 8,500 shares at an average price of $138.40, while insiders have collectively sold 42,598 shares valued at over $6 million recently.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. trimmed its holdings in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) by 12.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 88,212 shares of the software maker's stock after selling 12,145 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned 0.24% of Qualys worth $11,109,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in Qualys by 4.1% during the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 62,729 shares of the software maker's stock worth $7,899,000 after purchasing an additional 2,482 shares during the period. Nutshell Asset Management Ltd increased its position in Qualys by 36.7% during the 1st quarter. Nutshell Asset Management Ltd now owns 30,455 shares of the software maker's stock worth $3,835,000 after purchasing an additional 8,176 shares in the last quarter. Alapocas Investment Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Qualys in the first quarter valued at approximately $6,705,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Qualys in the 1st quarter valued at $127,000. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board grew its position in Qualys by 56.5% in the first quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 11,226 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $1,414,000 after acquiring an additional 4,054 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.31% of the company's stock.

Qualys Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of QLYS stock traded down $3.02 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $129.16. The stock had a trading volume of 236,618 shares, compared to its average volume of 338,444. The firm has a market cap of $4.66 billion, a PE ratio of 25.78 and a beta of 0.56. Qualys, Inc. has a one year low of $112.61 and a one year high of $170.00. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $138.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $134.12.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The software maker reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $164.06 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $161.25 million. Qualys had a return on equity of 37.19% and a net margin of 29.04%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.52 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Qualys news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 541 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.11, for a total transaction of $75,799.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 60,643 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,496,690.73. This represents a 0.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Jeffrey P. Hank sold 657 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.07, for a total value of $91,368.99. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 13,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,931,404.16. This trade represents a 4.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 42,598 shares of company stock worth $6,019,818 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

QLYS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Qualys from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen cut Qualys from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. DA Davidson increased their price target on Qualys from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Qualys from $142.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on shares of Qualys from $163.00 to $158.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $141.00.

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.