Swiss National Bank Sells 8,800 Shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Swiss National Bank lowered its stake in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) by 10.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 72,400 shares of the software maker's stock after selling 8,800 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.20% of Qualys worth $14,211,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Qualys by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,739,966 shares of the software maker's stock worth $570,532,000 after acquiring an additional 45,867 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Qualys by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 1,137,107 shares of the software maker's stock worth $173,466,000 after purchasing an additional 54,219 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Qualys by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 887,988 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $135,463,000 after purchasing an additional 12,794 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Qualys by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 570,957 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $87,099,000 after buying an additional 14,273 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its holdings in Qualys by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 517,735 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $78,980,000 after buying an additional 10,946 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.31% of the company's stock.

Qualys Price Performance

Shares of Qualys stock traded down $1.56 on Friday, hitting $150.31. 380,270 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 501,858. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $165.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $175.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.55 billion, a PE ratio of 34.79 and a beta of 0.51. Qualys, Inc. has a one year low of $113.00 and a one year high of $206.35.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The software maker reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.26. Qualys had a return on equity of 47.28% and a net margin of 28.48%. The company had revenue of $144.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $144.69 million. On average, analysts forecast that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Qualys

In other news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 4,120 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.62, for a total transaction of $690,594.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 194,481 shares of the company's stock, valued at $32,598,905.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 4,120 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.62, for a total transaction of $690,594.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 194,481 shares of the company's stock, valued at $32,598,905.22. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 928 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.97, for a total transaction of $155,876.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 93,196 shares in the company, valued at $15,654,132.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,590 shares of company stock worth $2,419,842 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on QLYS shares. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Qualys from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Qualys from $212.00 to $180.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Wedbush lowered their price target on shares of Qualys from $230.00 to $210.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Qualys in a research note on Friday, April 26th. They issued a "sector perform" rating and a $172.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Qualys in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Qualys presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $162.23.

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.