Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) Stake Lifted by Nutshell Asset Management Ltd

Key Points

• Nutshell Asset Management Ltd increased its stake in Qualys, Inc. by 36.7%, acquiring an additional 8,176 shares to hold 30,455 shares total, which represents about 2.0% of its portfolio.
• Qualys reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $1.68 for the last quarter, exceeding the expected $1.47, with revenue up 10.3% year-over-year.
• Several analysts have raised their target prices for Qualys, with the average target now at $141.00, while two analysts issued sell ratings and twelve rated it as hold.

Nutshell Asset Management Ltd boosted its holdings in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) by 36.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,455 shares of the software maker's stock after buying an additional 8,176 shares during the quarter. Qualys makes up 2.0% of Nutshell Asset Management Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Nutshell Asset Management Ltd owned approximately 0.08% of Qualys worth $3,835,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Qualys by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 40,348 shares of the software maker's stock worth $5,658,000 after acquiring an additional 745 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Qualys by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 168,015 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $23,559,000 after acquiring an additional 4,282 shares in the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Qualys by 20.3% during the fourth quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 2,301 shares of the software maker's stock worth $323,000 after buying an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in Qualys by 88.1% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 333 shares of the software maker's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in Qualys by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,175 shares of the software maker's stock worth $726,000 after buying an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. 99.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on QLYS. Wall Street Zen downgraded Qualys from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Qualys from $90.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on Qualys from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. DA Davidson raised their target price on Qualys from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Qualys from $122.00 to $117.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Qualys currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $141.00.

Insider Activity at Qualys

In related news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 8,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.40, for a total transaction of $1,176,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 215,962 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,889,140.80. This represents a 3.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Jeffrey P. Hank sold 657 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.07, for a total transaction of $91,368.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 13,888 shares in the company, valued at $1,931,404.16. This represents a 4.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 42,598 shares of company stock worth $6,019,818. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Qualys Stock Up 1.2%

NASDAQ:QLYS traded up $1.59 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $129.48. 103,047 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 338,288. The business has a 50-day moving average of $139.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $134.16. Qualys, Inc. has a twelve month low of $112.61 and a twelve month high of $170.00. The company has a market capitalization of $4.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.84 and a beta of 0.56.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The software maker reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.21. Qualys had a return on equity of 37.19% and a net margin of 29.04%. The company had revenue of $164.06 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $161.25 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.52 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal 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.