Sumedh S. Thakar Sells 7,000 Shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) Stock

Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.66, for a total transaction of $1,047,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 225,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,741,295.98. This represents a 3.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Qualys Trading Down 1.1 %

QLYS stock traded down $1.66 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $143.86. 419,009 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 446,761. Qualys, Inc. has a 12 month low of $119.17 and a 12 month high of $206.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.78 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $128.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $135.28.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qualys

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new position in Qualys in the 3rd quarter valued at $445,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its position in Qualys by 36.6% during the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 20,576 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $3,374,000 after purchasing an additional 5,508 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Qualys by 2,459.9% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 43,135 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $6,151,000 after buying an additional 41,450 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Qualys by 40.0% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 29,015 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $3,525,000 after buying an additional 8,291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its position in shares of Qualys by 13.5% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 108,304 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $18,048,000 after buying an additional 12,915 shares in the last quarter. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wedbush lowered their target price on Qualys from $190.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Northland Securities restated a “market perform” rating and set a $140.00 price objective (down from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Qualys from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Needham & Company LLC started coverage on Qualys in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on Qualys from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” 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 given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $152.80.

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.