Hancock Whitney Corp Acquires 7,053 Shares of Qualys, Inc. $QLYS

Key Points

• Hancock Whitney Corp increased its holdings in Qualys, Inc. by 92.9% in the first quarter, now owning 14,649 shares valued at approximately $1.85 million.
• Insiders at Qualys have been selling shares, with Director John A. Zangardi selling 3,103 shares for about $418,718, marking a 43.25% decrease in his position.
• Qualys reported earnings of $1.68 per share in its latest quarter, surpassing consensus estimates and achieving a 10.3% year-over-year revenue growth.

Hancock Whitney Corp lifted its position in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) by 92.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,649 shares of the software maker's stock after acquiring an additional 7,053 shares during the quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp's holdings in Qualys were worth $1,845,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Qualys by 82.7% in the 1st quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 369 shares of the software maker's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Qualys by 52.4% during the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 436 shares of the software maker's stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in shares of Qualys by 27.9% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 500 shares of the software maker's stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of Qualys by 154.9% during the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 576 shares of the software maker's stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of Qualys by 96.4% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 601 shares of the software maker's stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.31% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Qualys news, Director John A. Zangardi sold 3,860 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.82, for a total transaction of $520,405.20. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 7,174 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $967,198.68. The trade was a 34.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,018 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.26, for a total transaction of $134,640.68. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 94,468 shares in the company, valued at $12,494,337.68. This represents a 1.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 52,222 shares of company stock worth $7,252,957 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Qualys Stock Performance

QLYS traded down $1.07 on Wednesday, reaching $132.05. The company had a trading volume of 81,255 shares, compared to its average volume of 333,607. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $136.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $132.93. The company has a market cap of $4.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.36 and a beta of 0.65. Qualys, Inc. has a 52-week low of $112.61 and a 52-week high of $170.00.

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 business had revenue of $164.06 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $161.25 million. Qualys had a net margin of 29.04% and a return on equity of 37.19%. Qualys's quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.52 earnings per share. Qualys has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.200-6.5 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 1.500-1.6 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on QLYS. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Qualys from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Qualys from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 30th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Qualys from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Qualys from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Qualys to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $141.00.

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.