Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) Shares Sold by Trexquant Investment LP

Trexquant Investment LP trimmed its position in shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) by 43.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 51,977 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 39,480 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP’s holdings in Qualys were worth $7,288,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in QLYS. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Qualys by 3.1% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Qualys by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,262,931 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $178,445,000 after purchasing an additional 16,369 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its stake in Qualys by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,049,623 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $147,178,000 after purchasing an additional 123,530 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Qualys by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 456,540 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $64,016,000 after purchasing an additional 3,848 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Qualys by 1,386.2% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 355,699 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $49,876,000 after purchasing an additional 331,766 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.31% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.49, for a total transaction of $941,430.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 225,453 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,321,173.97. This trade represents a 3.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 882 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.66, for a total value of $123,180.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 62,295 shares in the company, valued at $8,700,119.70. This represents a 1.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 26,595 shares of company stock worth $3,691,922. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on QLYS shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a research note on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Qualys from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Northland Securities reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $146.00 price target (down from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Loop Capital lowered their target price on shares of Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Qualys in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $120.00 price target for the company. Two research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Qualys currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $144.36.

Qualys Trading Down 4.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:QLYS opened at $123.27 on Friday. Qualys, Inc. has a twelve month low of $119.17 and a twelve month high of $174.20. The firm has a market cap of $4.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.51 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50 day moving average of $134.29 and a 200-day moving average of $136.36.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.16). Qualys had a net margin of 28.59% and a return on equity of 38.52%. Equities research analysts forecast that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 EPS for the current year.

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.