Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its holdings in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) by 24.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 107,342 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 35,644 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.29% of Qualys worth $13,789,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Qualys by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 39,603 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $4,968,000 after purchasing an additional 2,972 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Qualys by 16.3% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 16,772 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $2,155,000 after buying an additional 2,356 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in Qualys by 70.5% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 2,472 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $318,000 after acquiring an additional 1,022 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in Qualys by 30.8% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 4,919 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $632,000 after acquiring an additional 1,159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Qualys by 16.3% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,650 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $212,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on QLYS shares. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wolfe Research upgraded Qualys from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Qualys from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on shares of Qualys from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC assumed coverage on shares of Qualys in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $152.80.

Qualys Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:QLYS opened at $139.83 on Friday. Qualys, Inc. has a 52-week low of $119.17 and a 52-week high of $201.60. The stock has a market cap of $5.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.80 and a beta of 0.54. The business has a fifty day moving average of $143.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $135.91.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total transaction of $876,470.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 179,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,493,851.29. This trade represents a 3.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 634 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.19, for a total transaction of $77,468.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 85,942 shares in the company, valued at $10,501,252.98. The trade was a 0.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 30,715 shares of company stock valued at $4,406,251. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.