Van Berkom & Associates Inc. Reduces Position in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Van Berkom & Associates Inc. decreased its holdings in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) by 27.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 273,259 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 102,892 shares during the quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Qualys were worth $38,316,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of QLYS. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Qualys in the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted 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 last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in Qualys by 56.2% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 439 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Qualys in the 4th quarter worth approximately $91,000. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Qualys by 68.6% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 730 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.31% of the company’s stock.

Qualys Stock Performance

QLYS stock opened at $139.40 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.10 billion, a PE ratio of 29.98 and a beta of 0.56. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $140.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $135.48. Qualys, Inc. has a one year low of $119.17 and a one year high of $174.31.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) 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 net margin of 28.59% and a return on equity of 38.52%. On average, research analysts predict that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on QLYS. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on Qualys from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Northland Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $146.00 price target (down previously from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a research report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Qualys from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 15th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a report on Monday, February 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Qualys presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $146.57.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.49, for a total value of $941,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 225,453 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,321,173.97. The trade was a 3.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 8,555 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.62, for a total value of $1,322,774.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 64,032 shares in the company, valued at $9,900,627.84. The trade was a 11.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 36,288 shares of company stock worth $5,204,906. 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.