Two Sigma Advisers LP Lowers Position in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Two Sigma Advisers LP trimmed its stake in shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) by 47.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 68,100 shares of the software maker's stock after selling 60,400 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP owned about 0.19% of Qualys worth $9,549,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Qualys during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Qualys during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in Qualys by 88.1% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 333 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Qualys in the fourth quarter valued at $54,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in shares of Qualys by 33.9% in the fourth 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. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 524 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.38, for a total transaction of $67,795.12. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 65,053 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,416,557.14. The trade was a 0.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Jeffrey P. Hank sold 4,000 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.93, for a total transaction of $515,720.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,666 shares in the company, valued at $1,633,027.38. This trade represents a 24.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 15,127 shares of company stock valued at $1,904,252. Insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

QLYS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Loop Capital dropped their target price on Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped 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. Northland Securities restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $146.00 price objective (down from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a research report on Monday, February 10th. 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Qualys from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $137.50.

Qualys Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:QLYS traded up $2.67 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $137.18. The company's stock had a trading volume of 113,957 shares, compared to its average volume of 344,214. The company has a market cap of $4.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.51 and a beta of 0.61. Qualys, Inc. has a 12-month low of $112.61 and a 12-month high of $170.00. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $127.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $136.58.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The software maker reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 net margin of 28.59% and a return on equity of 38.52%. The business's revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.45 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.