American Century Companies Inc. Raises Stock Position in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) by 10.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 105,218 shares of the software maker’s stock after buying an additional 10,031 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.28% of Qualys worth $15,004,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Qualys during the first quarter worth about $26,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in Qualys by 545.2% during the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 200 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. DecisionPoint Financial LLC acquired a new position in Qualys during the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Qualys by 294.7% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 225 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Qualys by 149.0% in the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 239 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the period. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Qualys Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ QLYS opened at $124.41 on Friday. Qualys, Inc. has a one year low of $119.32 and a one year high of $206.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.80 and a beta of 0.46. The company’s fifty day moving average is $130.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $145.88.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The software maker reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.20. Qualys had a net margin of 29.36% and a return on equity of 44.80%. The firm had revenue of $148.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $148.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.95 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Qualys news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.15, for a total transaction of $1,002,050.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 186,601 shares in the company, valued at $26,711,933.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Qualys news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,339 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.35, for a total transaction of $191,945.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 58,947 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,450,052.45. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.15, for a total transaction of $1,002,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 186,601 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,711,933.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,205 shares of company stock worth $1,444,369 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

QLYS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Qualys from $170.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Qualys from $167.00 to $150.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Wedbush decreased their target price on shares of Qualys from $190.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Qualys from $180.00 to $150.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Qualys from $165.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Qualys has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $147.83.

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.