By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS – Free Report) by 21.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,858 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 1,036 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Qualys were worth $541,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of QLYS. 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. 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. Mendota Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Qualys in the fourth quarter worth about $91,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Qualys by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,089 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $153,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. 99.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
QLYS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a report on Monday, February 10th. 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. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Qualys from $162.00 to $135.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $144.36.
Get Our Latest Stock Report on Qualys
Insider Activity
In other news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 524 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 65,053 shares in the company, valued at $8,416,557.14. This trade represents a 0.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.49, for a total transaction of $941,430.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 225,453 shares in the company, valued at $30,321,173.97. The trade was a 3.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,122 shares of company stock worth $3,484,692 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.
Qualys Trading Up 9.1 %
QLYS opened at $125.73 on Thursday. Qualys, Inc. has a 1-year low of $112.61 and a 1-year high of $174.20. The company has a market capitalization of $4.59 billion, a PE ratio of 27.04 and a beta of 0.71. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $131.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $136.15.
Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.16). Qualys had a return on equity of 38.52% and a net margin of 28.59%. Equities analysts forecast that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 earnings per share 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.
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