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 dated 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 directly owns 225,453 shares in the company, valued at $30,321,173.97. The trade was a 3.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Qualys Stock Performance

QLYS stock traded up $0.34 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $135.91. 405,942 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 407,289. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $147.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $135.83. Qualys, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $119.17 and a fifty-two week high of $201.03. The stock has a market cap of $4.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.94 and a beta of 0.57.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The software maker reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.23. Qualys had a return on equity of 40.24% and a net margin of 28.72%. The business had revenue of $153.87 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $150.74 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.24 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Qualys, Inc. will post 4.34 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

QLYS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Qualys from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Qualys from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Qualys from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Needham & Company LLC started coverage on shares of Qualys in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Qualys from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $152.80.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qualys

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in QLYS. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Qualys by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,246,562 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $160,957,000 after acquiring an additional 20,038 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its holdings in Qualys by 14.5% during the third quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 926,093 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $118,966,000 after buying an additional 117,079 shares in the last quarter. CDAM UK Ltd raised its position in shares of Qualys by 8.3% during the third quarter. CDAM UK Ltd now owns 502,913 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $64,604,000 after purchasing an additional 38,509 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in Qualys by 15.3% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 474,100 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $67,607,000 after buying an additional 63,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Penserra Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Qualys by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 373,995 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $48,043,000 after purchasing an additional 28,802 shares during the period. 99.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.