Norris Perne & French LLP MI Trims Stock Holdings in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Norris Perne & French LLP MI reduced its stake in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) by 24.2% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 106,961 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 34,221 shares during the period. Norris Perne & French LLP MI’s holdings in Qualys were worth $17,849,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its position in Qualys by 545.2% in the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 200 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Wallace Advisory Group LLC grew its position in Qualys by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Wallace Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,646 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $275,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Bridge City Capital LLC grew its position in Qualys by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Bridge City Capital LLC now owns 12,630 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $2,108,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Shilanski & Associates Inc. grew its position in Qualys by 549.7% in the 1st quarter. Shilanski & Associates Inc. now owns 7,686 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,283,000 after acquiring an additional 6,503 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise grew its position in Qualys by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 13,725 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $2,290,000 after acquiring an additional 821 shares in the last quarter. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Qualys Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Qualys stock traded up $0.32 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $142.60. 469,603 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 434,381. Qualys, Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.53 and a 1 year high of $206.35. The business has a 50-day moving average of $147.93 and a 200-day moving average of $167.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.01 and a beta of 0.47.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The software maker reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.17. Qualys had a return on equity of 47.28% and a net margin of 28.48%. The firm had revenue of $145.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $145.67 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com raised Qualys from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Qualys in a research report on Friday, April 26th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $172.00 price objective for the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Qualys from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on Qualys in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $170.00 price objective for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Qualys presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $162.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 4,034 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.96, for a total transaction of $661,414.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 193,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,743,967.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Qualys news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,443 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.33, for a total value of $241,457.19. Following the sale, the insider now owns 62,614 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,477,200.62. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 4,034 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.96, for a total value of $661,414.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 193,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,743,967.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,443 shares of company stock valued at $4,148,987 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Qualys 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.