Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) CEO Sumedh S. Thakar Sells 7,000 Shares

Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.17, for a total value of $995,190.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,994,292.48. This trade represents a 2.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Qualys Price Performance

QLYS stock opened at $147.70 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $141.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $135.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.76 and a beta of 0.56. Qualys, Inc. has a 1 year low of $119.17 and a 1 year high of $174.31.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last issued its 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 net margin of 28.59% and a return on equity of 39.64%. On average, analysts expect that Qualys, Inc. will post 4.31 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

QLYS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Qualys from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on shares of Qualys from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Qualys from $162.00 to $135.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Northland Securities restated a “market perform” rating and set a $146.00 price target (down from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Qualys presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $146.57.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qualys

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Qualys by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,312,662 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $604,721,000 after buying an additional 131,339 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Qualys by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,262,931 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $178,445,000 after acquiring an additional 16,369 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its position in shares of Qualys by 13.3% during the 4th 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 lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 88,347 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 38,880 shares during the last quarter. 99.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.