Insider Selling: Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) Insider Sells 524 Shares of Stock

Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) insider Bruce K. Posey sold 524 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.38, for a total value of $67,795.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 65,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,416,557.14. This trade represents a 0.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Qualys Stock Down 0.7 %

QLYS stock opened at $127.92 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.51 and a beta of 0.56. Qualys, Inc. has a twelve month low of $119.17 and a twelve month high of $174.20. The business has a fifty day moving average of $135.99 and a 200-day moving average of $136.05.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on QLYS shares. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on Qualys from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Qualys in a research report on Tuesday. They set an “underweight” rating and a $120.00 target price for the company. Northland Securities reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $146.00 price target (down from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Qualys from $162.00 to $135.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $146.14.

Institutional Trading of Qualys

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in QLYS. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Qualys by 21.6% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,091 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $140,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Qualys by 6.5% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 29,428 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $3,780,000 after purchasing an additional 1,793 shares during the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Qualys by 8.8% in the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 10,650 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,368,000 after purchasing an additional 858 shares during the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise increased its stake in shares of Qualys by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 13,886 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,784,000 after acquiring an additional 823 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Qualys by 208.5% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 86,187 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $11,072,000 after acquiring an additional 58,252 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.31% 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.