Qualys, Inc. $QLYS Shares Bought by KBC Group NV

Key Points

• KBC Group NV significantly increased its Qualys stake by 251.3% in the first quarter, buying 20,000 additional shares and bringing its total to 27,958 shares worth about $2.46 million.
• Several other institutional investors also added to or initiated positions, and overall institutional ownership remains very high at 99.31% of Qualys’s stock.
• Qualys reported solid quarterly results, with EPS of $1.95 beating estimates and revenue of $175.64 million topping forecasts, while its stock was trading up 2.8% at $137.48.

KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) by 251.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,958 shares of the software maker's stock after purchasing an additional 20,000 shares during the period. KBC Group NV owned 0.08% of Qualys worth $2,456,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Aurora Investment Counsel increased its stake in shares of Qualys by 3.7% during the first quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel now owns 19,142 shares of the software maker's stock worth $1,682,000 after purchasing an additional 689 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Qualys in the 1st quarter valued at about $301,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its stake in Qualys by 12.6% in the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 18,041 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $1,585,000 after buying an additional 2,025 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its holdings in Qualys by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 8,676 shares of the software maker's stock worth $762,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Qualys by 19.1% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 140,317 shares of the software maker's stock worth $12,327,000 after buying an additional 22,498 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.31% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Thomas Berquist sold 939 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.75, for a total value of $103,994.25. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,781 shares in the company, valued at $750,995.75. This represents a 12.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,627 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.17, for a total value of $162,976.59. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 83,211 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,335,245.87. This represents a 1.92% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 73,846 shares of company stock valued at $9,239,073. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Qualys Trading Up 2.8%

QLYS opened at $137.48 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.84 billion, a PE ratio of 24.68 and a beta of 0.61. Qualys, Inc. has a twelve month low of $74.51 and a twelve month high of $167.86. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $125.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $110.59.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The software maker reported $1.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.81 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $175.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $173.63 million. Qualys had a net margin of 29.41% and a return on equity of 37.15%. Qualys's revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.67 EPS. Qualys has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.440-7.650 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 1.730-1.800 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Qualys, Inc. will post 5.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on QLYS shares. Morgan Stanley set a $96.00 price objective on Qualys in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Qualys from $85.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen lowered Qualys from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Qualys from $135.00 to $100.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, William Blair downgraded Qualys from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $141.80.

Qualys Company Profile

Qualys, Inc NASDAQ: QLYS is a leading provider of cloud-based security and compliance solutions designed to help organizations streamline their IT security programs. Operating on a unified, modular platform, Qualys offers continuous visibility into global IT assets through a combination of lightweight cloud agents and on-premises scanner appliances. The platform supports an array of security and compliance use cases, enabling real-time detection of vulnerabilities, policy violations and misconfigurations across on-premises, cloud and hybrid environments.

The company's flagship Qualys Cloud Platform delivers a suite of integrated applications, including vulnerability management, detection and response (VMDR), policy compliance, web application scanning, file integrity monitoring, asset inventory and container security.

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