Van ECK Associates Corp Boosts Stock Position in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) by 34.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,890 shares of the software maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,875 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 0.11% of Qualys worth $5,453,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in QLYS. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Qualys by 1,386.2% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 355,699 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $49,876,000 after buying an additional 331,766 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Qualys by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,049,623 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $147,178,000 after purchasing an additional 123,530 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position 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 valued at $11,072,000 after purchasing an additional 58,252 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Qualys by 101.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 112,214 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $14,415,000 after buying an additional 56,613 shares during the period. Finally, CDAM UK Ltd lifted its position in Qualys by 8.3% in the third quarter. CDAM UK Ltd now owns 502,913 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $64,604,000 after buying an additional 38,509 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.31% of the company’s stock.

Qualys Stock Performance

Shares of Qualys stock opened at $147.70 on Wednesday. Qualys, Inc. has a one year low of $119.17 and a one year high of $174.31. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $141.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $135.31. The company has a market cap of $5.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.76 and a beta of 0.56.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last announced 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 39.64% and a net margin of 28.59%. On average, analysts predict that Qualys, Inc. will post 4.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 855 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.24, for a total value of $121,615.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 63,177 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,986,296.48. This represents a 1.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,635 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.64, for a total transaction of $226,676.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 112,017 shares in the company, valued at $15,530,036.88. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 36,288 shares of company stock worth $5,204,906. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

QLYS has been the subject of several research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price objective on shares of Qualys from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Qualys from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com raised Qualys from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Qualys from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on Qualys from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $146.57.

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.