Two Sigma Advisers LP Sells 60,400 Shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Two Sigma Advisers LP lessened its holdings in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) by 47.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 68,100 shares of the software maker's stock after selling 60,400 shares during the quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP owned about 0.19% of Qualys worth $9,549,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Qualys in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Qualys in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in Qualys by 88.1% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 333 shares of the software maker's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Qualys in the fourth quarter worth about $54,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.31% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Qualys news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,358 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.87, for a total value of $169,573.46. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 105,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,203,753.80. The trade was a 1.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 524 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.38, for a total transaction of $67,795.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 65,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,416,557.14. This represents a 0.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,127 shares of company stock worth $1,904,252 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

Qualys Trading Down 0.8%

QLYS stock traded down $1.17 on Wednesday, hitting $136.38. The company had a trading volume of 42,003 shares, compared to its average volume of 381,610. Qualys, Inc. has a 12-month low of $112.61 and a 12-month high of $170.00. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $127.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $136.59. The stock has a market cap of $4.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.33 and a beta of 0.61.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The software maker reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $159.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $157.05 million. Qualys had a net margin of 28.59% and a return on equity of 38.52%. The company's revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.45 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

QLYS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. 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. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Qualys from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 31st. Northland Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $146.00 price target (down previously from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Qualys from $120.00 to $90.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price target on shares of Qualys from $163.00 to $158.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus 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.