Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) Holdings Boosted by Northern Trust Corp

Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) by 10.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 571,016 shares of the software maker's stock after purchasing an additional 52,256 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned about 1.56% of Qualys worth $80,068,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of QLYS. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Qualys in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Qualys in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in Qualys by 88.1% in 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 last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Qualys during the fourth quarter worth about $54,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in Qualys by 33.9% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 391 shares of the software maker's stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.31% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. 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. Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded Qualys from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, April 12th. Wedbush reduced their target price on Qualys from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Qualys from $122.00 to $117.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Three 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 MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $137.50.

Qualys Price Performance

QLYS traded down $1.17 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $132.31. 341,413 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 388,327. The stock has a market cap of $4.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.45 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $125.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $135.96. Qualys, Inc. has a 12 month low of $112.61 and a 12 month high of $170.00.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The software maker reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $159.90 million during 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.45 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jeffrey P. Hank sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 $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 is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 525 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.48, for a total transaction of $73,227.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 65,373 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,118,226.04. The trade was a 0.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 31,156 shares of company stock valued at $4,164,721. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

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.