Qualys, Inc. $QLYS Stock Purchased by Fisher Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Fisher Asset Management increased its Qualys stake by 106% in the third quarter, adding 121,771 shares to hold 236,700 shares valued at about $44.3 million. Institutional investors collectively own 99.31% of the stock.
• Analysts have a consensus “Hold” rating on Qualys, with an average price target of $195; ratings include one Strong Buy, four Buys, 12 Holds, and one Sell.
• Qualys beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting EPS of $2.12 and revenue of $188.05 million, up 10.7% year over year.

Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) by 106.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 236,700 shares of the software maker's stock after buying an additional 121,771 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.68% of Qualys worth $44,310,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Csenge Advisory Group lifted its holdings in Qualys by 5.1% during the third quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 2,016 shares of the software maker's stock worth $377,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Leuthold Group LLC grew its stake in Qualys by 288.2% in the 3rd quarter. Leuthold Group LLC now owns 27,393 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $5,128,000 after purchasing an additional 20,336 shares during the period. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP increased its position in shares of Qualys by 2,020.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP now owns 3,498 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $624,000 after purchasing an additional 3,333 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Qualys by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,029 shares of the software maker's stock worth $755,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the period. Finally, Hohimer Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Qualys in the 3rd quarter worth about $361,000. 99.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on QLYS shares. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Qualys from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Qualys from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Qualys from $180.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 10th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Qualys from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 10th. Finally, Wedbush increased their price target on Qualys from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Qualys has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $195.00.

Insider Transactions at Qualys

In other Qualys news, insider Bruce Posey sold 881 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.52, for a total value of $166,967.12. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 57,807 shares in the company, valued at $10,955,582.64. This represents a 1.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 2,659 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.66, for a total transaction of $557,485.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 68,208 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,300,489.28. The trade was a 3.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 11,672 shares of company stock valued at $2,192,747. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Qualys News Summary

Here's some of the latest news about QLYS:

• Positive Sentiment: A bullish Seeking Alpha analysis argues that faster billings make the post-earnings selloff a potential buying opportunity, suggesting the market reaction may have been too negative. Qualys: Faster Billings Make The Post-Earnings Selloff A Buying Opportunity
• Positive Sentiment: Several analyst updates raised price targets or suggested the stock could rise, including reports on Baird, Piper Sandler, RBC, Morgan Stanley, UBS and Wedbush. These target changes provide a counterpoint to the post-earnings weakness. Baird price target Piper Sandler price target RBC price target Morgan Stanley price target UBS outlook Wedbush outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst opinion is divided, indicating that the investment debate centers on whether Qualys can deliver enough growth to support its valuation. Analysts Have Conflicting Sentiments on Qualys

Qualys Price Performance

Shares of Qualys stock traded down $0.15 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $172.94. The company had a trading volume of 960,224 shares, compared to its average volume of 930,863. Qualys, Inc. has a one year low of $74.51 and a one year high of $235.54. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $190.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $137.95. The firm has a market cap of $6.04 billion, a PE ratio of 28.78 and a beta of 0.54.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 9th. The software maker reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.16. Qualys had a return on equity of 37.09% and a net margin of 29.59%. The company had revenue of $188.05 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $186.63 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.86 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Qualys, Inc. will post 5.84 EPS for the current year.

Qualys Company Profile

Qualys, Inc. provides cloud-based security and compliance software to help organizations identify and manage cybersecurity risks. Its platform brings together information about an organization's IT assets and security posture to support vulnerability management, threat detection, and compliance activities. Qualys offers products and services for vulnerability assessment and remediation, cloud security, endpoint protection, web application security, and policy compliance. Its solutions are designed to help customers monitor systems across cloud environments, on-premises infrastructure, and other connected assets.

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