Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 12,547 Shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) by 8.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 142,986 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 12,547 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.39% of Qualys worth $20,390,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in QLYS. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Qualys in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Qualys by 1,666.7% in the 1st quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 159 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Qualys by 294.7% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 225 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Qualys by 545.2% in the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 200 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DecisionPoint Financial LLC bought a new position in Qualys during the 1st quarter worth $34,000. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Qualys Price Performance

Shares of QLYS opened at $121.97 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $135.42 and a 200-day moving average of $149.44. The company has a market cap of $4.51 billion, a PE ratio of 28.23 and a beta of 0.49. Qualys, Inc. has a one year low of $121.64 and a one year high of $206.35.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The software maker reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.20. Qualys had a net margin of 29.36% and a return on equity of 44.80%. The business had revenue of $148.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $148.80 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

QLYS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wedbush lowered their target price on Qualys from $190.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Qualys from $180.00 to $150.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Qualys from $170.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Qualys from $116.00 to $115.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $147.83.

Insider Activity at Qualys

In other Qualys news, Director Jeffrey P. Hank sold 850 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.45, for a total transaction of $115,132.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,537,763.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.32, for a total value of $954,240.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 186,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,437,448.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Jeffrey P. Hank sold 850 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.45, for a total transaction of $115,132.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,537,763.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 18,769 shares of company stock valued at $2,617,377. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.