Man Group plc Cuts Stock Holdings in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Man Group plc cut its stake in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) by 27.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm 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 quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Qualys in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Qualys during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in Qualys by 88.1% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 333 shares of the software maker's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Qualys during the 4th quarter worth $54,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Qualys by 33.9% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 391 shares of the software maker's stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Qualys Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of QLYS stock traded down $1.92 on Friday, hitting $134.51. The company had a trading volume of 273,690 shares, compared to its average volume of 383,170. The firm has a market cap of $4.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.93 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $127.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $136.85. Qualys, Inc. has a twelve month low of $112.61 and a twelve month 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $159.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $157.05 million. Qualys had a return on equity of 38.52% and a net margin of 28.59%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.45 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.81, for a total value of $866,670.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 524 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.38, for a total value of $67,795.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 65,053 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,416,557.14. This trade represents a 0.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,127 shares of company stock valued at $1,904,252 in the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on QLYS. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Qualys in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Qualys from $120.00 to $90.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Wedbush dropped their target price on Qualys from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on Qualys from $163.00 to $158.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their target price on Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Three investment 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Qualys currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $137.50.

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.