Novem Group Makes New $728,000 Investment in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Novem Group acquired a new stake in shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 5,191 shares of the software maker's stock, valued at approximately $728,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Qualys by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 456,540 shares of the software maker's stock worth $64,016,000 after purchasing an additional 3,848 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Qualys in the 4th quarter worth $15,937,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Qualys by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 7,833 shares of the software maker's stock worth $1,095,000 after purchasing an additional 933 shares in the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Qualys in the 4th quarter worth $376,000. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Qualys by 26.9% in the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 4,253 shares of the software maker's stock worth $596,000 after purchasing an additional 902 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.31% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 524 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.38, for a total value of $67,795.12. Following the sale, the insider now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 stock was sold at an average price of $123.81, for a total value of $866,670.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,313 shares in the company, valued at $30,496,012.53. The trade was a 2.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,127 shares of company stock worth $1,904,252 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on QLYS shares. Northland Securities reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $146.00 target price (down previously from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a report on Monday, February 10th. Wedbush cut their price objective on Qualys from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price objective on Qualys from $163.00 to $158.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Qualys from $131.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Qualys from $120.00 to $90.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $137.50.

Qualys Trading Down 1.4%

NASDAQ QLYS traded down $1.92 on Friday, hitting $134.51. 273,690 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 383,170. The company has a market capitalization of $4.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.93 and a beta of 0.61. The business's 50 day moving average price is $127.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $136.85. 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 quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The software maker reported $1.67 EPS 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 business had revenue of $159.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $157.05 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $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 predict that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

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.