Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) Stake Boosted by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) by 44.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,851 shares of the software maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,100 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Qualys were worth $1,345,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in QLYS. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in Qualys by 24.9% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 291 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Qualys in the 4th quarter worth about $591,000. Xponance Inc. increased its stake in Qualys by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 6,376 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,251,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt purchased a new position in Qualys in the 4th quarter worth about $363,000. Finally, DGS Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Qualys in the 4th quarter worth about $302,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.31% of the company’s stock.

Qualys Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:QLYS opened at $170.36 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $166.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $175.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.17 and a beta of 0.51. Qualys, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $107.00 and a fifty-two week high of $206.35.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The software maker reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.26. Qualys had a return on equity of 49.06% and a net margin of 27.34%. The company had revenue of $144.57 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $144.69 million. Research analysts expect that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

QLYS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wedbush lowered their target price on Qualys from $230.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. StockNews.com lowered Qualys from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, April 21st. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Qualys in a report on Thursday, February 8th. TD Cowen began coverage on Qualys in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $170.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Qualys from $146.00 to $152.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $154.57.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.49, for a total transaction of $191,523.70. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 96,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,395,445.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,430 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.91, for a total transaction of $235,821.30. Following the sale, the insider now owns 63,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,398,729.87. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.49, for a total value of $191,523.70. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 96,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,395,445.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,792 shares of company stock valued at $2,455,489 over the last 90 days. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.