Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) Stock Position Raised by Novem Group

Novem Group boosted its position in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) by 35.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,008 shares of the software maker's stock after purchasing an additional 1,817 shares during the quarter. Novem Group's holdings in Qualys were worth $883,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Qualys by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,749 shares of the software maker's stock worth $806,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in Qualys by 27.9% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 500 shares of the software maker's stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its holdings in Qualys by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 4,287 shares of the software maker's stock worth $539,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank increased its holdings in Qualys by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 932 shares of the software maker's stock worth $131,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in Qualys by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 6,035 shares of the software maker's stock worth $846,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the period. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total value of $1,791,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 217,962 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $32,530,828.50. This represents a 5.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 525 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.96, for a total value of $71,379.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 61,184 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,318,576.64. This represents a 0.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 46,255 shares of company stock valued at $6,349,727 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

Qualys Trading Down 2.1%

QLYS traded down $3.13 during trading on Monday, reaching $146.94. 374,940 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 370,967. The stock has a market cap of $5.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.05 and a beta of 0.62. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $137.71 and a 200 day moving average of $134.48. 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 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $157.05 million. Qualys had a return on equity of 38.05% and a net margin of 29.19%. The company's revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.45 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on QLYS. Wedbush cut their price target on shares of Qualys from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Qualys from $120.00 to $90.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Qualys from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Qualys from $131.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on Qualys from $163.00 to $158.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Qualys has an average rating of "Hold" and an average 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.