Swiss National Bank Raises Stake in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Swiss National Bank lifted its position in shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 72,400 shares of the software maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.20% of Qualys worth $10,152,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of QLYS. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Qualys during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Qualys in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in Qualys by 33.9% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 391 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in Qualys by 56.2% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 439 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the period. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Qualys in the 4th quarter worth approximately $91,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.31% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,321,173.97. This represents a 3.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,635 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.64, for a total value of $226,676.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 112,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,530,036.88. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 26,071 shares of company stock valued at $3,624,127 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on QLYS shares. Loop Capital decreased their price target on Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a report on Monday, February 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on Qualys from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com raised Qualys from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Northland Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $146.00 target price (down from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $146.14.

Qualys Trading Down 2.5 %

QLYS stock opened at $128.86 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.71 and a beta of 0.56. Qualys, Inc. has a 12-month low of $119.17 and a 12-month high of $174.20. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $136.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $136.03.

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

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.