Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Reduces Stock Position in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. reduced its holdings in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,229 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 1,709 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.12% of Qualys worth $6,045,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Qualys during the 3rd quarter worth about $445,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Qualys by 208.5% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 86,187 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $11,072,000 after purchasing an additional 58,252 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Qualys by 428.9% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 18,256 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $2,345,000 after purchasing an additional 14,804 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Qualys by 40.0% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 29,015 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $3,525,000 after purchasing an additional 8,291 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Qualys by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 7,833 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,095,000 after purchasing an additional 933 shares during the period. 99.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.49, for a total transaction of $941,430.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 225,453 shares in the company, valued at $30,321,173.97. This represents a 3.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,332 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.37, for a total transaction of $209,616.84. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 113,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,885,415.24. This trade represents a 1.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 36,288 shares of company stock worth $5,204,906. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Qualys Stock Performance

Shares of Qualys stock opened at $147.70 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.40 billion, a PE ratio of 31.76 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $141.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $135.31. Qualys, Inc. has a one year low of $119.17 and a one year high of $174.31.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.16). Qualys had a return on equity of 39.64% and a net margin of 28.59%. On average, equities analysts predict that Qualys, Inc. will post 4.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on QLYS. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Northland Securities reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $146.00 price objective (down from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a research report on Monday, February 10th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Qualys from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Qualys from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $146.57.

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.