Vident Advisory LLC Increases Stake in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Vident Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) by 13.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 53,313 shares of the software maker's stock after purchasing an additional 6,415 shares during the quarter. Vident Advisory LLC owned approximately 0.15% of Qualys worth $7,476,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Qualys during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Qualys during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Qualys during the fourth quarter valued at $54,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of Qualys by 33.9% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 391 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. 99.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Qualys

In related news, Director Jeffrey P. Hank sold 4,000 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.93, for a total value of $515,720.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 12,666 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,633,027.38. This trade represents a 24.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 directly owns 65,053 shares in the company, valued at $8,416,557.14. This represents a 0.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,127 shares of company stock valued at $1,904,252 in the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

QLYS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Loop Capital lowered their target price on shares of Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price objective on shares of Qualys from $163.00 to $158.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Qualys from $122.00 to $117.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Scotiabank set a $142.00 price objective on shares of Qualys and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $137.50.

Qualys Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ QLYS traded down $1.92 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $134.51. 273,690 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 383,170. The firm has a market cap of $4.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.93 and a beta of 0.61. Qualys, Inc. has a twelve month low of $112.61 and a twelve month high of $170.00. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $127.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $136.85.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The software maker reported $1.67 EPS 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 analysts' expectations 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 quarter last year, the company earned $1.45 EPS. Research analysts expect that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 EPS 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.