Stephens Investment Management Group LLC Trims Stake in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Stephens Investment Management Group LLC lowered its position in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) by 14.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 57,075 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 10,027 shares during the quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC owned about 0.16% of Qualys worth $7,332,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Qualys by 294.7% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 225 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Qualys by 149.0% in the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 239 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Qualys in the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. DT Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Qualys in the 2nd quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in Qualys by 53.6% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 639 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,339 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.56, for a total value of $165,446.84. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 55,279 shares in the company, valued at $6,830,273.24. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Qualys news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,339 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.56, for a total transaction of $165,446.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 55,279 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,830,273.24. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 616 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.93, for a total transaction of $82,500.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 87,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,662,222.61. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,535 shares of company stock worth $1,442,641 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Qualys Stock Performance

NASDAQ:QLYS opened at $120.34 on Friday. Qualys, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $119.17 and a fifty-two week high of $206.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.51 and a beta of 0.46. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $124.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $137.34.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The software maker reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $148.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $148.80 million. Qualys had a net margin of 29.36% and a return on equity of 44.80%. Qualys’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.95 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.94 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson raised shares of Qualys from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Qualys from $170.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Qualys in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $135.00 target price on the stock. Northland Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $140.00 target price (down from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Qualys from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $144.23.

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.