Vident Advisory LLC Buys 6,415 Shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Vident Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) by 13.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 53,313 shares of the software maker's stock after acquiring 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.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Qualys by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,312,662 shares of the software maker's stock worth $604,721,000 after acquiring an additional 131,339 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Qualys by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,262,931 shares of the software maker's stock worth $178,445,000 after acquiring an additional 16,369 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its stake in Qualys by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,049,623 shares of the software maker's stock worth $147,178,000 after acquiring an additional 123,530 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in Qualys by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 954,583 shares of the software maker's stock worth $133,852,000 after buying an additional 88,347 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Qualys by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 920,163 shares of the software maker's stock worth $129,025,000 after buying an additional 38,880 shares during the last quarter. 99.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on QLYS shares. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Qualys in a report on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Qualys from $131.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Wedbush lowered their price objective 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Qualys currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $137.50.

Qualys Price Performance

Shares of QLYS stock opened at $136.90 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $126.76 and a 200-day moving average of $136.87. The company has a market cap of $4.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.44 and a beta of 0.61. Qualys, Inc. has a one year low of $112.61 and a one year high of $170.00.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,018 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.75, for a total value of $129,031.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 100,920 shares in the company, valued at $12,791,610. This trade represents a 1.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.81, for a total transaction of $866,670.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 246,313 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,496,012.53. The trade was a 2.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 15,127 shares of company stock worth $1,905,108. Insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

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.

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