ProShare Advisors LLC Grows Position in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) by 40.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,246 shares of the software maker's stock after purchasing an additional 3,548 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC's holdings in Qualys were worth $1,717,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Amalgamated Bank boosted its stake in Qualys by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 16,640 shares of the software maker's stock worth $2,333,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Qualys by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,749 shares of the software maker's stock worth $806,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Qualys by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,089 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $153,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the period. Finally, Huntington National Bank raised its holdings in Qualys by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 932 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $131,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the period. 99.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Qualys

In related news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.81, for a total transaction of $866,670.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,496,012.53. This represents a 2.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 525 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.85, for a total value of $72,371.25. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 61,709 shares in the company, valued at $8,506,585.65. This trade represents a 0.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,127 shares of company stock valued at $1,904,252 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

QLYS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Qualys from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Qualys from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Qualys from $120.00 to $90.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Qualys from $131.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Scotiabank set a $142.00 price target on Qualys and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $137.50.

Qualys Price Performance

Qualys stock traded up $2.88 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $137.39. The stock had a trading volume of 35,508 shares, compared to its average volume of 381,815. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.46 and a beta of 0.61. Qualys, Inc. has a 1-year low of $112.61 and a 1-year high of $170.00. The stock's fifty day moving average is $127.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $136.58.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The software maker reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $159.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $157.05 million. Qualys had a return on equity of 38.52% and a net margin of 28.59%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.45 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 EPS for the current year.

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.