Man Group plc Trims Position in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Man Group plc lessened its stake in shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) by 27.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 77,105 shares of the software maker's stock after selling 28,840 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc owned about 0.21% of Qualys worth $10,812,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in QLYS. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Qualys during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Qualys during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Qualys by 88.1% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 333 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Qualys during the 4th quarter valued at about $54,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of Qualys by 33.9% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 391 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.31% of the company's stock.

Qualys Price Performance

NASDAQ:QLYS opened at $136.88 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $126.48 and a 200 day moving average of $136.76. The company has a market capitalization of $4.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.44 and a beta of 0.61. Qualys, Inc. has a 1-year low of $112.61 and a 1-year high of $170.00.

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 for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $159.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $157.05 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.45 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on QLYS. StockNews.com upgraded Qualys from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 12th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Qualys from $131.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Qualys from $122.00 to $117.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Scotiabank set a $142.00 price target on Qualys and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Wedbush dropped their price target on Qualys from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $137.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Qualys

In other Qualys news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 524 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.38, for a total value of $67,795.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 65,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,416,557.14. The trade was a 0.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the business'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 value of $866,670.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 246,313 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,496,012.53. The trade was a 2.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 15,127 shares of company stock worth $1,905,108. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

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