Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Increases Stake in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has increased its stake in Qualys, Inc. by 818.1%, now holding 17,857 shares valued at approximately $2,249,000.
• Several other institutional investors also boosted their holdings in Qualys, with around 99.31% of the stock currently owned by such investors.
• Qualys recently reported an earnings per share of $1.67 for the last quarter, exceeding expectations, and has a current stock price of about $130.53, down 1.9%.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) by 818.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,857 shares of the software maker's stock after purchasing an additional 15,912 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Qualys were worth $2,249,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in QLYS. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Qualys by 24.4% in the 1st quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 41,370 shares of the software maker's stock worth $5,210,000 after purchasing an additional 8,120 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Qualys by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 8,143 shares of the software maker's stock worth $1,036,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Novem Group raised its holdings in Qualys by 35.0% in the 1st quarter. Novem Group now owns 7,008 shares of the software maker's stock worth $883,000 after purchasing an additional 1,817 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Qualys by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 110,027 shares of the software maker's stock worth $13,856,000 after purchasing an additional 1,177 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Qualys in the 1st quarter worth $360,000. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Qualys

In other Qualys news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 541 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.11, for a total transaction of $75,799.51. Following the sale, the insider owned 60,643 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,496,690.73. This trade represents a 0.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 787 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.23, for a total transaction of $116,657.01. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 99,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,717,460.24. The trade was a 0.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,580 shares of company stock worth $5,885,177 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Qualys Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ QLYS opened at $130.53 on Monday. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $140.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $134.57. The company has a market cap of $4.74 billion, a PE ratio of 26.69 and a beta of 0.56. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The software maker reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.21. Qualys had a net margin of 29.19% and a return on equity of 38.05%. The firm had revenue of $159.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $157.05 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.45 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Scotiabank set a $142.00 price objective on shares of Qualys and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Qualys from $120.00 to $90.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Qualys from $131.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research 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 assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus 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.

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