Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) Shares Sold by Aviva PLC

Aviva PLC cut its stake in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) by 20.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,109 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 1,076 shares during the quarter. Aviva PLC’s holdings in Qualys were worth $576,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Qualys in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Qualys in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in shares of Qualys by 33.9% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 391 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Qualys during the 4th quarter worth $91,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank increased its position in shares of Qualys by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 932 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $131,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. 99.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on QLYS shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Qualys from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Qualys from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 31st. Northland Securities reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $146.00 target price (down previously from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Qualys in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $120.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Qualys has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $144.36.

Qualys Stock Performance

QLYS stock opened at $122.78 on Friday. Qualys, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $112.61 and a fifty-two week high of $174.20. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $131.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $136.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.40 and a beta of 0.71.

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 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 analysts forecast that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 owns 62,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,700,119.70. This represents a 1.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,358 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.87, for a total transaction of $169,573.46. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 105,740 shares in the company, valued at $13,203,753.80. This represents a 1.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 26,480 shares of company stock valued at $3,654,266 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.