Qualys, Inc. $QLYS Shares Sold by American Century Companies Inc.

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. reduced its holdings in Qualys, Inc. by 42.2% in the first quarter, ending with 48,067 shares after selling 35,067 shares.
• Despite the sell-off by American Century, other institutional investors increased their stakes, with SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raising its position by 82.7%.
• Qualys recently reported earnings that beat analyst estimates, delivering $1.68 earnings per share, compared to a projected $1.47.

American Century Companies Inc. cut its holdings in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) by 42.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 48,067 shares of the software maker's stock after selling 35,067 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.13% of Qualys worth $6,053,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Qualys by 1.2% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 8,776 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $1,105,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Qualys by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,809 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $354,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in Qualys by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 10,300 shares of the software maker's stock worth $1,297,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in Qualys by 27.9% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 500 shares of the software maker's stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its holdings in Qualys by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 4,287 shares of the software maker's stock worth $539,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.31% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Qualys

In other Qualys news, Director John A. Zangardi sold 3,103 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.94, for a total transaction of $418,718.82. Following the sale, the director directly owned 4,071 shares in the company, valued at approximately $549,340.74. The trade was a 43.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,018 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.26, for a total transaction of $134,640.68. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 94,468 shares in the company, valued at $12,494,337.68. This trade represents a 1.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 52,223 shares of company stock worth $7,257,452 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on QLYS shares. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on shares of Qualys from $163.00 to $158.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Qualys from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Qualys from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Qualys from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Qualys to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Qualys presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $141.00.

Qualys Trading Up 0.4%

NASDAQ:QLYS traded up $0.48 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $135.81. The stock had a trading volume of 332,327 shares, compared to its average volume of 359,687. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.11 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $137.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $133.25. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The software maker reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $164.06 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $161.25 million. Qualys had a net margin of 29.04% and a return on equity of 37.19%. Qualys's quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. Qualys has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.200-6.5 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 1.500-1.6 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate 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.